You are here: HomeNews2023 03 11Article 636470

General News of Saturday, 11 March 2023

Source: www.vanguardngr.com

Naira scarcity: We’re worst hit — Abia PWDs, seek political inclusion

People living With Disability People living With Disability

Persons With Disabilities, PWDs, in Abia State, have bemoaned their fate in the wake of currency scarcity following the Naira re-design policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities, JONAPAD, Abia State chapter said its members “are the worst hit” of the policy as they hardly gain access to banks to cash their money.

According to him, some PWDs have sustained injuries while struggling to gain access to banks.

The State Chairman of JONAPAD, Comrade Wisdom Kalu, made the lamentation when he led the members to endorse the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Professor Greg Ibe, cried out for help.

Kalu who said their members were passing through horrible times, also complained of the exclusion of PWDs in the political space and policy-making bodies in the state.

He, however, applauded Professor Ibe for his continuous empathy and support to PWDs and the less privileged in the state.

He recalled how the APGA governorship flag bearer’s food and medical interventions during the Covid-19 pandemic saved his members from hunger, sickness and death.

Kalu also acknowledged that PWDs benefited from the just-concluded free medical outreaches sponsored by Prof. Ibe across the 17 Councils in the state.

He appealed to Ibe to sustain his kind gestures to PWDs, and to also prominently feature the members of JONPAD in his administration if voted into power.

The JONAPAD boss who described his members unique and enterprising, wondered why government and private employers discriminate against them.

He applauded Professor Ibe for his track records and successes in the private sector and announced him as the consensus candidate of PWDs.

In his response, Prof. Ibe thanked the PDWs for endorsing his candidature and promised not to disappoint them.

He assured them that his emergence as Abia Governor would mark the end of all forms of discrimination against them.

The APGA candidate noted with concern the plights of PWDs particularly in the wake of the biting economic hardship, and promised to give them new hope.

Professor Ibe who regretted that Government was not harnessing the various potential in PWDs, promised to give them special consideration in his administration.

” I will give you special attention. Government is losing a lot by not investing in you but the story will be different because I will work with you “.

Ibe also promised to include the members of JONAPAD in the next round of his university scholarship.

He, solicited their massive support at the March 18 governorship poll, saying he is on a mission to rescue and rebuild Abia for the good of all.