As part of preparation for a hitch-free governorship election in Bayelsa State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will deploy sign language interpreters to various polling units and communities to help hearing impaired persons cast their votes without challenges.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC for Bayelsa State, Pastor Monday Tom Udoh, disclosed this yesterday in Yenagoa during a voter education and sensitization forum for sign language interpreters in the state.
He stated that INEC has done everything within its power to ensure that persons with disabilities take part in the forthcoming governorship election and future ones.
“INEC has done greatly by always making sure that we don’t exclude any group of persons in our processes. That is why we gather you today to be taught in sign language efficiency and how to help the deaf know what is going on in the society.
“We have recruited some disabled persons to be part of the process as electoral officers, that is just to make sure that they have a sense of belonging as Nigerians.
“We should not exclude them, they have all the intellectual capacity within them, their situation is just a misfortune,” he said.
