Ondo stakeholders seek inclusion of persons with disabilities in Petroleum Industry Act

By Boye Oyeyemi 

Stakeholders have called on the National Assembly to protect the interests of Persons With Disabilities in the ongoing review of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.

The appeal was made during a two-day capacity-building workshop organised in Akure by the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities with support from the Ford Foundation.

Speaking at the event, the Acting Director of CCD, Godwin Unumeri, said the current law failed to adequately capture the rights and welfare of persons with disabilities in the Niger Delta.

“Regrettably, the Act did not specifically and directly capture the interests of persons with disabilities,” he said.

Unumeri, represented by the organisation’s Finance Manager, Florence Austin, urged lawmakers to include provisions protecting PWDs in the amended version of the Act.

He also appealed to President Bola Tinubu to assent to the amendment once passed by the National Assembly.

According to him, persons with disabilities are often excluded from decision-making bodies and benefit-sharing structures in host communities despite being affected by oil exploration activities.

Also speaking, Chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities in Ondo State, Abiodun Olusegun, described the review of the law as overdue and urged the National Assembly to speed up the amendment process.