Reps to enforce 5% recruitment quota for persons with disabilities – Deputy Speaker

The House of Representatives has vowed to enforce full compliance with the legally mandated 5 percent employment quota for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), declaring that the era of advocacy without accountability is over. Deputy Speaker of the House, Benjamin Okezie Kalu, made the commitment in Abuja on Wednesday while […]

The House of Representatives has vowed to enforce full compliance with the legally mandated 5 percent employment quota for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), declaring that the era of advocacy without accountability is over.

Deputy Speaker of the House, Benjamin Okezie Kalu, made the commitment in Abuja on Wednesday while delivering remarks at the Policy Forum on Advancing Workplace Inclusion for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), organised by the Shehu Musa Yar’adua Foundation in collaboration with the Office of the Deputy Speaker and other partners, to commemorate the International Day of People with Disabilities.

The Deputy Speaker urged chief executives, human resource directors and private sector employers to sign commitment forms at the forum, adopt disability-confident recruitment, and set measurable targets.

He commended the Shehu Musa Yar’adua Foundation for convening the dialogue and announced that recommendations from panel speakers will be tabled before the House before the end of the current legislative session.

Also speaking, the Director-General of the Shehu Musa Yar’adua Foundation, Amara Nwankpa, said the objective of the programme was to push beyond conversation into action, particularly six to seven years after the passage of the Prohibition of Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities Act.