In order to ensure their inclusion in the benefit systems outlined in current legislation, people with disabilities have urged the federal government to enact a supplemental Petroleum Industry Act. The Centre for Citizens with Disabilities organized a three-day session on the PIA and Disability Laws in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, where the demand was made. The Ford Foundation provided funding for the event, which was called "Ending Barriers Against Niger-Deltans with Disabilities."
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission received a charter of demands from the PWDs, who were selected from different disability clusters in Bayelsa. They urged the commission to make sure their needs and voices were taken into account while creating the benefit frameworks for the PIA.
They pointed out that although the present PIA acknowledged the rights of women, young people, and traditional leaders, it said nothing about the inclusion and rights of people with disabilities.
Following the National Disability Act, which established a minimum 5% employment quota for the disability community, the group urged NUPRC to require Host Community Development Trusts to incorporate disability-related concerns.
One important clause in the PIA mandates that oil firms compensate HCDTs, which are in charge of promoting development in host communities, with 3% of their yearly operational expenses. The leadership of several disability clusters, according to Mayor Ekpomokumo, Chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities, Bayelsa Chapter, was unified in calling for complete inclusion in the implementation of the PIA.
As the representative of all PWD organizations in Bayelsa, JONAPWD is calling for inclusion in all PIA benefit structures. "All stakeholders share this call," Ekpomokumo said. "Oil companies, traditional institutions, civil society organizations, and the business community were among the other actors involved in the charter," he continued.
The founder of CCD and chairman of the Abia State Commission for the Welfare of Disabled Persons, Mr. David Anyaele, gave participants his word that he would make sure that PWDs in Bayelsa were not left out. Individuals with disabilities possess the necessary skills to improve their communities and families. "Over 1.3 billion people worldwide, or roughly 16% of the population, live with a disability," Anyaele stated.
The Acting Director of CCD, Mr. Godwin Unumeri, explained that PWDs had been continuously excluded from development planning since the establishment of the Niger Delta Development Board in 1961 until the Niger Delta Development Commission. "Efforts were made to include persons with disabilities when the PIA was being developed, but they were unsuccessful," Unumeri said.
King Timi Ebikeme, the Amananowei of Peretoru Kingdom, emphasized the significance of giving people with disabilities priority in community development, saying, "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.