The Independent National Electoral Commission stated this in a report obtained by our correspondent on Thursday.
The report also showed that 197,707 PLWDs have pre-registered online but have yet to complete their registration.
The report also revealed that 9,763,873 Nigerians have completed their registration (online – 3,339,012 and physical – 6,424,861).
The distribution by gender showed that 4,835,322 males and 4,928,551 females have completed their registration.
The PUNCH reports that INEC has given its commitment to providing support to the PLWDs ahead of the forthcoming 2023 general election. Advocacy groups have urged the commission to guarantee the active inclusion of the community of the PLWDs in the electoral process.
Speaking, the chairman of the Nigerian Association of the Blind, Lagos chapter, Lukman Salami, said the association was working with the commission to increase the number of registration for the PLWDs.
“We’re working with INEC to ensure that more of our members are registered but prior to now there’s no indication of disability on the forms. The data is the recent data and it doesn’t include the number of the PLWDs that have registered years back because then, there was no column to indicate if you have disability or not and we used to register just like every other person,” Salami said.
“Many of the PLWDs are not even aware of their rights to vote and be voted for. We need to create more awareness. INEC can also provide buses for the associations of the PLWDs to move around every Local Government Area and create awareness among our people and ensure that more people are registered,” he said.
