The Abia House of Assembly on Wednesday passed the ‘Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities Bill’ into law.

The speaker of the parliament, Chinedum Orji, while announcing the bill’s passage during the plenary, said the law would be cited as ‘The Abia State Commission for Disabled Persons Law’.

Mr Orji said the state’s legislators were committed to promoting people-oriented bills.

He announced that the bill, upon being assented to by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, should be deemed to have come into force on August 31.

The sponsor of the bill, deputy majority leader Paul Taribo, described it as a landmark bill that would go a long way in placing the destiny of persons with disabilities in their hands.

Mr Taribo, representing Ukwa East, added, “I’m confident that it will soon be assented to by the governor and implemented in order to give persons with disabilities a sense of belonging.”

The Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) executive director David Anyaele described the passage of the bill as a strong demonstration by the lawmakers that all lives are precious, in particular the lives of residents with disabilities.

“Persons with disabilities in Abia State are the most excluded in governance at the subnational level in Nigeria due to the absence of a legal framework for the protection of the rights and dignity,” Mr Anyaele explained. “With the passage of this bill, the end of exclusion of Abia residents with disabilities in governance by state and non-state actors is coming to an end.”

He urged Mr Ikpeazu not to hesitate to assent to the bill “as his wife has committed so much to get this bill passed.”

The bill had suffered setbacks as the Fifth Assembly earlier passed it but was not assented to by Mr Ikpeazu. It was again brought back to the floor of the parliament during the Sixth Assembly, but it failed to scale through.

(NAN)