Ebonyi State commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Orji Uchenna Orji, has said the administrations of Francis Nwifuru as the governor of Ebonyi State and Bola Tinubu as the president of Nigeria if elected in the forthcoming general elections will address all the challenges of the physically challenged persons.
He said their election into office would fully integrate the physically challenged into the governance of the state and Nigeria.
Orji made the call when the National Association of the Blind (NAB), South East zone, paid him a visit in his office at the Cabinet Office, Abakaliki.
He appealed to the people to support Nwifuru and Tinubu to succeed Governor David Umahi and President Muhammadu Buhari respectively.
He urged the people to look at the antecedents of candidates angling to succeed Governor David Umahi and President Muhammadu Buhari before making their choice.
He said that both Nwifuru and Tinubu had shown capacity in leadership in various offices they had served or serving.
Orji noted that Governor Umahi had transformed Ebonyi State and that anyone who would succeed him should be someone that would consolidate on his achievements.
He described the choice of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Nwifuru, as the next governor of the state in 2023, adding that he remained the best candidate and called for the people’s total support for the both candidates.
Orji said, “We will ensure that we create the enabling environment for not only the blind but also other forms of physically disabled persons in such a way and manner even in the employment opportunities in Ebonyi State, you will be given opportunities, I assure you.
“We will ensure that we trigger the consciousness of government in ensuring that necessary laws are put in place to protect all persons that are physically disabled.
“We will only urge you to help us to tell the people that time has come for us to look critically at the campaign promises of people. We should be looking at what somebody has done, not what somebody promises to do.
“We should look at your antecedents, your track records, your performance credentials in determining who becomes the next President of Nigeria, who becomes the next governor of Ebonyi State or Anambra State or Enugu State. We should be looking at performance credentials and let me talk of my state because charity begins at home.”
He called on the state government to domesticate the disability rights law in the state and accommodate their members in employment and political appointments.
