Persons with Disabilities under the auspice of PDP Disability Wing picketed the People’s Democratic party (PDP) National Headquarters for exclusion of Party Members with Disabilities.
The card carrying members of Persons With Disabilities who came from different parts of the country on Friday blocked both the entrance and exit of PDP National Headquarters in protest against what they described as gross exclusion of PDP members with Disabilities in all party structures and Programmes.
The Convener of the group, Paul Ihekwuaba Esq told TQM that the group have made several efforts to have audience with the Party Executives but they have been totally ignored, neglected as if they are not humans, they are not Nigerians and also not party members like every other members of the party.
He also said that there is nothing others are doing that Persons With Disabilities cannot do.
“Among us here, we have lawyers, doctors, engineers, business owners etc, members of National Working Committee of PDP are not better than us, we are as qualified as they are, they should not treat us with disdain”.
“We have right to participate in politics under the constitution of Nigeria, going by United Nations Convention for the Rights of Persons With Disabilities(UNCRPD) and Discrimination against Persons With Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018, we have right to participate in politics”.
“No political party have right to exclude us, we should be recognized in the party structure like the youths and women”
“Imagine where no person with disability is part of the delegates at the PDP Convention, we are not recognize by the party constitution and we are not included in the party programmes”
He called on the party as a matter of urgency recognize PWDs who have over 1million members in PDP and they may consider alternative platform it if it continues.
He reminded the party that they are violating the rights of PWDs which the members may consider litigation if the party fails to address their concerns.
He said that they love the party that is why they are making effort to be part of the process.
He urged the NWC of PDP to do right thing to carry along the teeming members of PDP who are Persons With Disabilities.
“You know a good party going by the way they take care of the vulnerable group in the party, PDP should not appear to the world as an insensitive party”.
The protest yield some result because Two Presidential Aspirants of the Party, Publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, Ms Tari Oba and and also former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, they all promised to take the message of the group to the meeting of NWC, NEC and Presidential Aspirants under Party which was shifted from the PDP Secretariat to Legacy house(PDP Presidential Campaign Office at Maitama) because of the protest.
TQM reports that the group scheduled to hold a press conference on Saturday 28th May 2022 to inform the world how insensitive PDP has being to their plight in a political party they joined to contribute to nation building.
