The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Thursday urged Nigerians to fight corruption for better society and success of the next generations.
Mr. Godwin Achile, the Chief Superintendent of the ICPC, gave the advice at the Symposium in commemoration of 2019 Disability awareness week organised by Centre for Citizens with Disabilities in Enugu.
Achile said that corruption could be fought by everyone, irrespective of social status or physical disability.
He noted that thorough and holistic implementation of the Disability Act would enable the persons living with disabilities to join in the fight against corruption.
“Faithful implementation of the Act will help to achieve a desired goal in the fight against corruption in the country.
“The fight against corruption is meant for everyone, including persons with disabilities; as they are part of the society and their participation in fighting corruption will help to reduce it,” he said.
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Similarly, the Attorney-General of Enugu State, Justice Priscilla Emehelum, represented by Mr. Amaechi Ngene of Ministry of Justice, said that persons with disabilities were equally affected by corruption in the country and they might even be more affected.
Emehelum called on the government to inaugurate National Commission for Persons with Disabilities without delay, to oversee the implementation of the Law at the states levels.
She said that it was corruption that turned the country into the poverty capital of the world, in spite of her human and natural endowment.
Also, Mr. Gab Nnamani, the Chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons Living with Disabilities, Enugu Chapter, said that the domestication of the Act in the country would go a long way to reduce poverty among persons with disabilities.
Nnamani added that the inclusion of the Person with Disabilities in every sector would give them the opportunity to join in resisting and fighting corruption.
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He said that the association would embark on sensitisation programmes to enable its members and the general public to be aware of the Act as well as the right of the Persons Living with Disabilities.
A Resource Person, Mr. Okey Kalu of Abia State Education Resources Centre, said it was the right of the Persons Living with Disabilities to have access to social services in the country.
Kalu said that the Act provided that every person with disability should have the right to education without discrimination, as well as free healthcare.
On his part, Mr. Kola Ogunbiyi, Programme Manager, Centre for Citizens with Disabilities, said that the awareness week was on how to address corruption in the country.
According to Ogunbiyi, corruption could be minimised with the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all aspects of national life.
He said that the awareness was also to encourage those with disabilities not to join in corrupt practices.
He called on the Enugu State Government to pass the Persons with Disabilities’ Law, to make the physically challenged partake in activities of the government. (NAN)
