People with disabilities endorse Buhari

People Living With Disability (PLWD) said they will be rewarding President Muhammadu Buhari with their votes on February 16 for showing them love and signing into law, the National Disability Act which was recently passed into law by the national assembly after about 16 years of agitation. The President had assured of prompt signing of the law when transmitted to him when he appeared on a television programme with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo recently.

Special Adviser to the President on Disability Matters, Dr. Samuel Ankeli said at a news conference that the signing of the bill into law has given the PWD community in Nigeria a sense of belonging, adding that they owe him a duty to reciprocate the gesture by giving him their votes. He said: “God has used a father and a man of the people, President Muhammadu Buhari to do this thing for us. It is a worthy course and we are very proud of it. Three things are common in this.

“First, we now belong to the international community of persons with disability. Secondly, we now have access to governance. We can now occupy office even as high as that of the President. We can become chairmen of local government now without inhibition. Our rights are now protected for political participation and governance. We can now have access to Finance because the banks will now open their doors to us whether they like it or not. We now have access to schools and you cannot deny us admission and you must give us access to class rooms and lecture halls. It is now left for us to wake up and take advantage of this opportunity.

“Thirdly, the need has come for us to educate the public on the need for them to understand this law. We want the whole world to know that this Law is not meant to harass any individual, but to let them know that we are citizens of this country and have rights that need to be protected and if you violate the rights, the law will come down on you. We are no longer going to take charity, but deal with us as colleagues and as true Nigerians. We are calling on our colleagues who have not decided on where they stand to know that if you have a father that believe in you, you ought to believe in that father.”