The document ratifying the protocol to the African Union (AU) charter to advance the rights of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Nigeria has been signed by President Bola Tinubu.
The President revealed this in a statement released in Abuja on Thursday by his spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale.
The 30th ordinary session of the AU assembly, which convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on January 29, 2018, adopted the instrument.
PWDs are guaranteed, among other things, the rights to equality, nondiscrimination, and equal status before the law according to the charter.
The President pledged to uphold the PWDs’ legal rights in the country and see to it that they are well-being is catered for.
The statement reads: “I, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, do hereby formally declare that the Federal Republic of Nigeria accepts the aforementioned protocol and undertakes to faithfully perform and carry out the stipulations therein contained.
“In witness whereof, I, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, have set my hand and Seal of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on this instrument of ratification at Abuja on this 19th day of October in the year Two Thousand and Twenty-Three.”
The National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) claimed in recent weeks that PWDs were not included in the palliative distribution program that the federal government initiated in order to lessen the impact of removal of petrol subsidy.
Ada Peter
