Only 8.7 per cent of Nigerian voters surveyed by Invictus Africa said they had ever voted for a candidate with a disability, but 38.7 per cent said they would vote for a person with a disability in the 2027 General Elections, according to a new voter survey by the civic-tech organisation.
The findings are contained in Would You Vote for a Person with a Disability? A National Survey of Voter Attitudes, Past Voting Behaviour, and Future Voting Intentions Ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 General Elections, the Persons with Disabilities edition of Invictus Africa’s Voters’ Preference Survey (VPS) Series.
The survey covered 11,196 eligible voters across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. Invictus Africa said 12,444 responses were initially collected, with 1,248 excluded during data cleaning, leaving 11,196 responses for analysis.
The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews between March and May 2026.
The report places the findings against a backdrop of limited political representation for persons with disabilities. It states that only four persons with disabilities have held elected office in Nigeria at any level since 1999, representing less than 0.1 per cent of elected positions. It also reports that none of the 36 PWD candidates who contested the 2023 general elections won a seat.
Ballot Visibility Remains a Major Barrier
One of the report’s clearest findings is that many voters have not encountered a PWD candidate on their ballot. Among respondents who had never voted for a PWD candidate, 61.3 per cent said they were unaware of any such candidate on their ballot. Invictus Africa identifies this as the largest barrier to past support, suggesting that candidate emergence and visibility are central parts of the problem.
At the same time, the survey found a sizeable gap between past voting and stated future intention. While 8.7 per cent said they had previously voted for a PWD candidate, 38.7 per cent said they would vote for one in 2027. Another 34.0 per cent were unsure, while 27.3 per cent said they definitely would not. Among respondents who said they would definitely vote in 2027, willingness to support a PWD candidate rose to 44.6 per cent.
The figures therefore show a substantial group that has not previously supported a PWD candidate but is open to doing so, while also showing that willingness is not universal.
PWD Voters show stronger support, but Confidence is not Automatic
The survey found that PWD voters were more likely than non-PWD voters to support PWD candidates. Among PWD voters, 59.2 per cent said they would support a PWD candidate in 2027, compared with 38.7 per cent across all respondents.
However, the report also identifies doubts about disability and leadership capacity among both PWD and non-PWD voters. It found that 58.4 per cent of voters doubted whether most PWDs have the capacity to lead, while 46.3 per cent of PWD voters expressed the same doubt about their own group.
The report argues that this means representation cannot rely on disability identity alone. Instead, voters appear to place substantial weight on a candidate’s qualifications, honesty, policies and record.
The survey found that 80.1 per cent of the conditions selected by voters as factors that could increase their support for a PWD candidate were merit-based.
Among the individual conditions, being more qualified than opponents ranked first at 41.9 per cent, followed by honesty at 33.7 per cent, a proven track record at 27.8 per cent, clear policies at 25.2 per cent and previous political experience at 19.2 per cent.
The report consequently concludes that campaigns focused on a candidate’s competence, character and record are likely to resonate more than appeals based solely on disability representation.
Support is stronger for local and legislative offices
The survey also found a clear difference in willingness to support PWD candidates depending on the office they are seeking.
Councillor positions recorded the highest willingness at 71.3 per cent, followed by House of Assembly at 70.9 per cent and LGA Chairperson at 69.8 per cent. Support was 64.6 per cent for the House of Representatives.
The figures declined for higher executive offices: 54.9 per cent for deputy governor, 54.2 per cent for senator, 52.8 per cent for governor, 49.4 per cent for vice-president and 48.9 per cent for president. Invictus Africa describes the 22.4 percentage-point difference between councillor and president as an “acceptance ceiling.”
An undecided bloc could be significant
The report identifies the 34.0 per cent of respondents who were unsure about supporting a PWD candidate as the largest persuadable group.
The proportion was even higher in some regions, reaching 51.1 per cent in the South-East and 41.4 per cent in the South-West. The report says endorsements from party, community and religious leaders were independently associated with stronger commitment, while traditional media was also an important channel for reaching potential supporters.
For PWD candidates and political parties, the findings point to two connected challenges: getting more PWD candidates onto ballots and addressing doubts about their capacity to lead. For voters, the survey suggests that the decisive question may ultimately be less about whether a candidate has a disability and more about whether the candidate can demonstrate qualifications, integrity, experience, and a credible record.
Source: Invictus Africa, Would You Vote for a Person with a Disability? A National Survey of Voter Attitudes, Past Voting Behaviour, and Future Voting Intentions Ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 General Elections (VPS Series – Persons with Disabilities, Pre-Election), 2026.
