Persons with disabilities in Lagos State have called on the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu for urgent intervention in the alleged misappropriation of funds currently ongoing in the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA).
On behalf of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Lagos, Dr Adebukola Adebayo, the Lagos state Chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) made the call at a press conference on the plight of PWDs in Lagos on Thursday.
According to Dr Adebayo, over 2.5 million PWDs have been denied their rights as the N500 million Annual Disability Fund, established by Lagos State Special People’s Law (SPL) seven years ago, for the purpose of advancing the cause of PWDs in the state has been grossly misappropriated.
Dr Adebayo noted lack of transparency in the process of administering the 500 Million Naira disability fund has further worsen poverty and exclusion in the community, while adding that other interventions for PWDs in the state, such as Empowerment and Social Security Support Funds are yet to be given to beneficiaries.
“Some of the eligible beneficiaries of the 100,000 and 50,000 naira empowerment and social security support fund are yet to receive the fund till now, despite that LASODA claimed to have spent 10 Million Naira on that already.
“There are other instances where monies have been approved to PWDs, but after the public announcement and token shared before the media, nothing is ever heard again.
“For example, the 12 Million Naira given to select PWDs present at the one-day with the Governor in December 2020 were not given to all beneficiaries, or at least LASODA has not been account for how it shared out the money to the attendees. While some attendees got 100 thousand Naira each, some were given 50 thousand Naira each, and some did not receive anything,” Dr Adebayo said.
Having submitted petitions to the Lagos State Government at different times without any response or action, JONAPWD Lagos, and different disability clusters, therefore, demand that Governor Sanwoolu should constitute the LASODA Governing Board with all disability clusters represented in order to give direction and inclusiveness in the management of the Agency and avoid the mismanagement of funds.
Also the association demands that the Governor ensures the immediate disbursement of unpaid 100,000 Naira and 50,000 Naira empowerment and social security support fund respectively to all beneficiaries, as well as pau an end to favouritism in allocating funds to specific disability clusters, which have led to the marginalization of some disability groups in the state.
Failure to meet these demands within the next 14 days, the association noted that members of the association would be forced to embark on protests till something happens.
“Ignoring our demands would only ridicule the commitment and investment of the Governor to guarantee inclusive development for PWDs through LASODA. We believe that the Governor is committed to addressing the plights of PWDs in the state and that our requests would be granted to ensure that the laudable plans of the Governor for Lagosians with disabilities yield necessary impact,” Dr Adebayo said.
