Buhari assents Disability Bill, inaugurates National Commission for Persons with Disabilities

President Muhammadu Buhari has assented to the Disability Bill and also inaugurated a National Commission for Persons with Disabilities.

The President disclosed this in a statement on Thursday evening.

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He tweeted,

• “I am happy to have fulfilled my promise to the community of Persons with Special Needs, by assenting to the Disability Bill. We have also inaugurated a National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, to take the work to the next level, and implement our vision in full.”

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He also thanked Governors of Plateau, Lagos and Nasarawa States for implementing laws to protect persons with disabilities and urged Governors of Yobe, Kano, and Kogi to implement their laws, while those yet to do so should follow suit.

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What you should know 

• The World Bank disclosed last year that Persons with disabilities are more likely to experience extreme poverty in Nigeria than those without a disability.
• Data from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey revealed that an estimated 7% of household members above the age of five (as well as 9% of those 60 or older) experience some level of difficulty in at least one functional domain — seeing, hearing, communication, cognition, walking, or self-care.