Ahead of tomorrow’s local councils’ elections in Gombe State, the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) has trained women and representatives of Persons Living with Disabilities (PLWDs) on how to effectively vote during the elections.
The Project Coordinator, Mr Hamza Fassi-Fihri, said the training, conducted in collaboration with the Gombe State Independent Electoral Commission (GOSIEC), was to ensure inclusion of women and PLwDs in the forthcoming local government polls scheduled for December 19.
He said the importance of LG elections to democratic development is much because as the arm of government closest to the people, it would engage with them to address their needs.
The project coordinator added that it was equally important that there was inclusion of all stakeholders in the electoral process, saying it would guarantee that all the people would have their voices heard.
“And this is even more important for those populations which are marginalised like youth, women and people with disabilities”, Fassi-Fihri added.
He expressed confidence that the training would help increase awareness about civic education among stakeholders and ensure free, fair, credible and inclusive elections in the state.
The Executive Chairman of GOSIEC, Saidu Shehu Awak, observed that political parties had not been sensitised enough on the need for the PLwDs to be represented in their structures, saying that this is an area the commission would be focusing on.
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