Persons with Disabilities have called on the Federal Government to develop a supplementary Petroleum Industry Act that ensures their inclusion in benefit structures outlined in the current law.

The demand was made during a three-day workshop on the PIA and Disability Laws, held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, and organised by the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities.

The event, titled “Ending Barriers Against Niger-Deltans with Disabilities”, was funded by the Ford Foundation.

The PWDs, drawn from various disability clusters in Bayelsa, presented a charter of demands to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, urging the agency to ensure their voices and needs were included in the PIA’s benefit frameworks.

They noted that while the current PIA recognised the interests of women, youths, and traditional rulers, it was silent on the rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities.

The group called on NUPRC to mandate Host Community Development Trusts to integrate disability-related concerns in line with the National Disability Act, which stipulated a minimum 5 per cent employment quota for the disability community.

“One key provision of the PIA requires oil companies to contribute 3 per cent of their annual operating expenditure to fund HCDTs, which are responsible for driving development in host communities.”

Mayor Ekpomokumo, Chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons With Disabilities, Bayelsa Chapter, said the leadership of various disability clusters was united in demanding full inclusion in the PIA implementation process.

“JONAPWD, as the umbrella body of all PWD organisations in Bayelsa, is demanding inclusion in every structure of benefit within the PIA.

“It’s a shared call among all stakeholders,” Ekpomokumo stated.

He added that the charter also involved other actors such as oil companies, traditional institutions, civil society organisations, and the business community.

Mr David Anyaele, Chairman of the Abia State Commission for the Welfare of Disabled Persons and Founder of CCD, assured participants of his commitment to ensure that PWDs were not excluded in Bayelsa.

“Persons with disabilities have what it takes to elevate their families and communities.

“Globally, more than 1.3 billion people, about 16 per cent of the population, live with some form of disability,” Anyaele said.

Mr Godwin Unumeri, Acting Director of CCD, explained that from the creation of the Niger Delta Development Board in 1961 to the Niger Delta Development Commission, PWDs had been consistently left out of development planning.

“When the PIA was being developed, efforts were made to include persons with disabilities, but they didn’t succeed.

“So now, we’re leveraging the opportunity to propose a supplementary framework, supported by the Ford Foundation, to address this gap,” Unumeri said.

King Timi Ebikeme, the Amananowei of Peretoru Kingdom, emphasised the importance of prioritising people with disabilities in community development.

“If you look closely at our communities, those who require the most attention are persons living with disabilities.

“Their inclusion in the PIA is not just necessary, it is overdue,” he said.

(NAN)