2016 Budget: Read why Senate wants to make last minute adjustment
– Says Senate committed to protecting the rights of persons living with disabilities
The 2016 budget appropriation is to receive a last minute adjustment to carter for persons living with disability (PLWD), reprints from the senate indicate.
– Bukola Saraki has promised to review the 2016 budged in their favour of persons living with disabilities
The president of the Senate, Bukola Saraki while receiving a group of PLWD under the auspices of centre for citizens with disabilities (CCD) promised to review the budget in their favour.
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“I want to assure you that the 8th Senate are truly committed to rejig and redefine the issues, I think the problem in the past had been that of making it a priority and setting it as an agenda.
“The issue of access to justice, access to buildings and other rights that you deserve as a Nigerian will be granted and we need to start that journey.
“Starting that journey is of course looking at the 2016 budget as we bring it conclusion to see what we can do there that shows that there is inclusion.
“We will strengthen our own oversight to see that things that have been agreed on the side of the government are implemented.
“I want to assure you that as far as we are here in the Senate, we will not stop, we will protect your rights and ensure that there is a departure from what has happened in the past.
“We will partner with you, we will ensure that we work closely together, we will look at some of the laws,” he said.
He charged the group to go back and itemize all the other laws apart from access to justice and buildings which they have already sought that the senate can help in making.
He decried the current situation persons living with disability are subjected to and promised to do something about it.
Earlier the Executive Director of CCD Mr David Anyaele decried the poor level of treatment of people living with disabilities.
He said that access to justice and public buildings was very low stressing that even buildings of agencies of government charged with their welfare is not accessible to them.
“We conducted a research with support from Ford Foundation and DFID and we visited 6 states and Abuja to appreciate the level of access to citizens with disabilities to public infrastructure.
“It will interest you to know that more than 99.5 per cent of public infrastructures in Nigeria are not accessible to persons with disabilities.
“All the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that have been earmarked as line MDAs for the policy of rehabilitating persons living with disabilities are not accessible.
“Even the coordinating ministry: Ministry of Women Affairs is not accessible,” he said.
He further decried the poor allocation in the 2016 budget for the rehabilitation of persons living with disability.
He queried how the government would allocate only N80 million to over 25 million Nigerians living with various forms of disability.
READ ALSO: Saraki promises to work with Buhari to fight corruption
He stressed that the nation has been truly unfair to them adding that the population of PLWDs was increasing on a daily basis.
“You may wish to acknowledge that any time there is a bomb blast, apart from the casualties, the rest are people who suffer disability, daily because of bad roads, people suffer accidents and disability occurs.
“Disability and poverty forms a vicious circle, regrettably what we are seeing from the relevant MDAs, no provision has been made for these people.
“What this tells us is that the state is indirectly promoting begging and poverty among people living with disability.
“With 25 million Nigerians living with disability, many families are being caged knowing fully well that disability does not discriminate, nobody knows who will be next,” he said.
Anyaele added that even high net work individuals and politicians have suffer disability as disability does not discriminate against anyone.
The Executive director also decried the poor access to justice, court houses and police stations.
“No sign language interpreter in the courts, no grails for the blind, even no access to court rooms that are upstairs so it is difficult to access justice.
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