James Lalu, executive secretary of the National Commission
for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD), has accused Atiku Abubakar, presidential
candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), of not caring for persons with
disabilities (PWD).
Atiku had recently asked PWDs not to vote for the All
Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 elections.
The former vice-president had accused the ruling party of
failing to implement the disability law despite its passage by the national
assembly.
Speaking at press briefing on Thursday, Lalu said when Atiku
was a vice-president on the platform of the PDP, he made no impact on the lives
of PWDs.
He said PDP states have not implemented the law while states
like Plateau, Lagos, Nasarawa, Zamfara, Kogi, Jigawa and many others controlled
by the APC have gone far in laws for PWDs.
He said since Buhari came into power, he has always had the
interest of the PWDs at heart.
“During the first and second terms of former Vice-President
Atiku Abubakar and the PDP, the disability community struggled, even when the
bill was passed by the national assembly, Atiku and PDP did not sign it into
law,” Lalu said.
“I can still remember
when the disability community went out to protest and called the attention of
the then government, the only result we got was that we were tear-gased.
“We will always appreciate President Muhammadu Buhari. He is
the best friend of disability community and PWDs.
“When he came to power, he was able to listen to the cries
of PWDs. In 2014 in Lafia, Buhari, during his campaign, promised to sign the
disability bill into law.
“On January 17, 2019, Buhari signed the Discrimination
Against PWDs Prohibition Act. On August 17, he approved my appointment and that
of the governing board.
“That marks the
beginning of the NCPWDs and here we are. This testifies that Buhari has since
commenced the implementation of the act, something Alhaji Atiku and PDP could
not do.”
He said Atiku should rather focus on PDP states and urge
them to domesticate the law.
“We also want to remind governor of Delta, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa,
that the disability law had not been passed or signed in Delta,” Lalu said.
“Also to Aminu Tambulwal, the law was passed in Sokoto
state, but he is yet to sign and implement it.
“We want to call the
attention of the PDP’s presidential candidate for the 2023 election to focus
his energy on calling on the governor of Adamawa to sign the disability bill
into law.
“Many states controlled by PDP are yet to domesticate the
disability law. The disability community now knows the people that know the
road and favour them.”
He added that as far as the commission is concerned, Buhari
is the best president Nigeria has ever had.
“So, we are doing a lot, but we are not happy when we see
politicians making bad comments and trying to condemn the government of Buhari
that has done so much for us in Nigeria,” he said.
“As far as disability
community is concerned, Buhari is the best president in the history of the
country. He has set a standard and the next government would have to maintain
and improve upon it.
“Ordinarily, this should not have attracted our response,
but it is very important for us to put the record straight so that every
Nigerian would know the truth and the Buhari’s achievements for PWDs.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com