Politics
Hajiya Aishatu Dukku, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Electoral and Political Parties matters has expressed the need for special consideration for Persons With Disabilities (PWD) during the 2019 general elections.
Dukku who represents Dukku/Nafada, in Gombe state at the National Assembly stated this on Wednesday during an oversight visit in Gombe on preparations for the elections.
She said that there were 28 million PWDs in the country hence the need to consider them to enable them cast their votes successfully.
According to her, the committee embarked on the visit to ascertain the level of preparedness of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the conduct of 2019 general elections.
She also advised Alhaji Umar Ibrahim, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state not to relent on efforts to ensure peaceful conduct of the elections.
According to her, this will help to avoid security challenge as experienced during the 2015 general election when suspected Boko Haram insurgents disrupted the exercise in her constituency.
In his remarks, Ibrahim, said, the commission is doing everything possible to ensure that persons with disabilities cast their votes successfully.
He said INEC was working on how to improve their voting capacity.
According to him, with regards to the issues of security, the commission is in good relationship with the security agencies headed by the state Commissioner of Police.
He further said that, INEC challenges in the state had to do with difficult terrains as some communities are bordered by water and mountains especially in Balanga and Dukku Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state.(NAN)
