Disabled Person Accused Presidency Of Killing Disability Bill

The Deputy Director, Centre for Citizens with Disability, David Anyaele has accused the presidency of “killing” the Disability Bill in the National Assembly.
Mr Anyaele said, “The Bulk of the problem is that the society does not appreciate the challenge of living with disability in Nigeria…Nigerians with disability suffers the most, not just in Africa but all over the world.

“This is the fifth attempt right now to secure a bill for Nigerians living with disabilities. What happened at the last session was that the Presidency killed the bill”.
Mr Anyaele, who spoke during Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, said “We were told that they are dissatisfied with a provision of a commission on the bill”.
He said the Centre tried to convince the president, the minister of women affairs and social development on the need for the bill to be passed and a commission provided to no avail.
Mr Anyaele also accused “political actors” of using the disabled to win elections and duping them after winning.
“We were hoping that President Goodluck Jonathan will assign to the bill, unfortunately it was killed. That is what it means to live with disabilities in Nigeria. Because the political actors….
“When they want to contest elections they use people with disabilities to draw sentiments and sympathies from the public but when they get to office, people with disabilities get the blow of bad governance and exclusion in the polity”.
Citing the fact that Nigeria is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights for Persons with Disabilities, Anyaele argued that a commission is needed to monitor the progress of the Bill in the National Assembly.
Anyaele accused Jonathan of neglecting his duties as he (Jonathan) told the United Nations in 2011 that “He has ratified the UN Convention”.
However, Anyaele argues that “Article 25 of that convention compels state actors to ensure that there is a commission to protect the rights of persons with disabilities in their country”.