The House of Representatives has called on the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to review the National Social Register to accommodate Persons With Disabilities (PWDs).
The resolution of the House followed the adoption of a motion on the urgent need for specific recognition of persons with disabilities in poverty alleviation program moved at the plenary on Thursday by Hon. Bashiru Dawodu.
The lawmaker said the discrimination against Persons With Disabilities Act 2018 was assented into law by former President Muhammed Buhari in 2019.
Dawodu noted that President Bola Tinubu signed the instrument of Ratification of the protocol to the African charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the rights of persons with disability in Africa on 19th October, 2023.
He noted that the Federal Executive Council has approved the creation of a Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund of N5 billion annually.
The lawmaker expressed worry that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation recently launched “Renewal Hope Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) without set aside for Persons With Disability.
He said this violated the Disability Act 2018, adding that the CCT program involves the transfer of N1 trillion at N25,000 to 15 million households.
The lawmaker lamented that most poverty alleviation carried out by most state governments excluded the peoples with disabilities.
Dawodu noted that failures to involve PWDs in the Poverty Alleviation programmes leads to persistent poverty and further widening the Socio-economic in equality in Nigeria.
The House called on the, “Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation to: Create a stand-alone status for Persons with Disabilities in every programme of the Ministry; Review the National Social Register to accommodate Persons With Disability.
“Call on all the state Governments and local Government in Nigeria to include Persons with Disabilities in every programme of the state.”