APC's Tolu Bankole Calls for Review of PWD Voter Figures

Tolu Bankole, the All Progressives Congress National Leader for Persons with Disabilities, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reassess how it presents figures for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) on the national voters’ register. In a statement issued in Abuja, Bankole criticized the reported figure of 137,487 PWDs, asserting that it only accounts for those who indicated their disability status since the introduction of a dedicated field in the Continuous Voter Registration process in 2021.

He explained that voters with disabilities who registered prior to 2021 were not included in these figures due to the absence of a separate data field for disability status in earlier registration systems. Bankole emphasized that the current figure is a flow measure and not a comprehensive stock measure of all PWDs.

He urged INEC to qualify PWD statistics with their limitations, enhance awareness campaigns, and improve historical visibility of PWDs in the register. The reported figures include various categories of disabilities, but he noted that many PWDs may not have indicated their status during registration due to stigma and lack of awareness.