Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
The Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) Anambra State Chapter, has faulted recent media reports that Prof Chukwuma Soludo failed to accommodate persons with disabilities and the vulnerable community in the state’s budgetary allocations.
Former Nigerian High Commissioner to South Africa, Mrs. Uche Ajuluchukwu, made the claim at an event organised to mark the one year anniversary of the Anambra State Disabilities Rights Commission (ANSDRC).
According to her, the governor “has never budgeted a dime for, nor released one Kobo to Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) in the State since he came on board in 2022″ and despite their contributions to engender good governance and development of the State.
But a statement from the state government on Thursday signed by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Christian Aburime, said Ajuluchukwu’s allegations against the governor were untrue and spoken out of ignorance.
Corroborating the government’s stand on the claims, JONAPWD Anambra State Chairman, Ugochukwu Okeke, stated that the needs of the disability community were well captured in the state’s 2023 budget as against the claim that no provision was made at all.
Okeke, in a statement he made available to Ikengaonline, urged the general public to disregard the allegation against the state government, noting that the only challenge the disability community is facing as regards most of the budget provisions is the inadequate release of funds.
He wrote: “The recent publication that the Anambra State Government had no budgetary provision to cater to the needs of Persons with Disability is very far from the truth.
“Even though it is essential to hold governments accountable for ensuring the well-being of persons with disabilities through budgetary provisions, it is crucial to carefully analyse and interpret budgetary information before making claims.
“The complexity of budget allocations and the potential for misinterpretation can create misconceptions or lead to accusations of a lack of provisions. It is always advisable to gather comprehensive information from the organidations of Persons with Disabilities on issues like this and engage in productive dialogue with the government to gain a complete understanding of their efforts in supporting persons with disabilities before taking sides but the facts remain that, either the accuser of the state government is misinformed, lack knowledge to identify budget items in the budget document or decided to call for unnecessary attention.
“Anambra State Government has been practicing an inclusive budget process which has provided an opportunity for me as the leader of the Disability community in the state to be a member of the Anambra State Capital Budget Bilateral Discussion Committee for the past three years where I have been presenting and discussing the needs of persons with disabilities for consideration by the relevant ministries in addition to what the ministry of women affairs has been providing for us in their budget line items.
“For the 2023 budget, I am emphatically speaking through this medium to clarify that there are many budget line items provided in the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Development budget estimate to take care of the needs of Persons with Disabilities including some of the needs of the Disability Rights Commission.
“Haven gone through the 2023 Anambra State Budget Estimates pages 269 to 271, I want to confirm that our needs are well captured in the budget.”
Okeke identified some of the budget line items with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs code to include: Support to JONAPWD for Capacity building, Establishment of Disability Commission, Purchase of Disability Equipment, Sensitisation Programme for MDAs, Traditional leaders, and Religious leaders.- for Commission, and Disability Commission Compliance and enforcement.
Others he said were: Monitoring & evaluation and research development, Social intervention and Empowerment for disabled couple, Child and Family Support Programme, Disable sports competition, and International Day for Persons with Disabilities.
Okeke recalled that Soludo’s administration, in 2022, had given subvention to Persons with Disability Organisations in the state through the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development.
He also said that Soludo recently made approval for the empowerment of PWDs that have acquired skills from the skill acquisition centers in the state which the ministry is planning to execute in no distant time.
According to him, “government’s budget is multifaceted and includes allocations for various departments and programmes. Larger government budgets, funds for persons with disabilities might be spread across different ministries and departments or included as a part of broader social welfare programs. Consequently, it might appear as though there is no specific budget provision for this group, but in reality, the resources are allocated across different areas to cater to their needs.
“Therefore, if a specific provision or fund is not explicitly labeled for persons with disabilities as expected, it doesn’t mean that there is no budget allocation for them. It’s possible that funding exists under a different, more generalised category that supports various social welfare programmes, including those for persons with disabilities.”
