…vow to support Atiku
The Blind Human Rights Association of Nigeria, has threatened not to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari should he fail to assent to the Physically Challenged Bill before the 2019 presidential election.
The Bill, which had been passed by the National Assembly, is to stop discrimination between the able and disabled and is being expected to be approved by Buhari.
BHAN, which accused Buhari of being insensitive to the plight of the physically-challenged persons for over three and the half years of his government , said that the president had failed them for refusing to approve their Bill.
Speaking in an exclusive interview in Abeokuta, the Ogun Statw capital, the President of BHAN, Comrade Ayodeji Ishola, said that since Buhari had failed them, he should not expect any vote from physically challenged persons across the country in the forthcoming election.
Ishola, however said that the physically-challenged people were ready to support former Vice President and the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, should Buhari fail to approve the bill before the 2019 election.
He said that the refusal of Buhari to have approved the bill showed that the All Progressives Congress led administration only cared about their votes and not their welfare.
He lamented that despite the education and vocational training the disabled people acquired through their sweat and despite their present condition, they still find it difficult to get jobs or empowerment to buy equipment for their vocation.
Ishola therefore urged former President Olusegun Obasanjo to prevail on Abubakar not to make the same mistake of Buhari by neglecting the bill should they support him in the forthcoming election if the president insist on not assenting to the bill.
He also called for the speedy approval of the bill, saying when the bill is approved, it would pave way for the physically challenged people to have their own ministry and be involved in politics.
“The federal government is not doing anything in the issue of the disabled. The bill has been presented by the National Assembly and the President is yet to assent to the bill. If Buhari is not ready to approve our bill, that means we are not going to give him support for the second time.
“The APC government of Buhari has not been responsible to the disabled, we were hoping that the president will approve our bill on the December 3, the World Disabled Day,” he said.