The Independent Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Thursday urged Nigerians to resist and fight against corruption for better society and for the success of next generations.

The Chief Superintendent of the ICPC, Mr. Godwin Achile, gave the advice at a 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 one’s 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.

“Because the fight against corruption is meant for everyone including persons with Disabilities as they are part of the society and their participation in corrupt fighting will help to reduce it,” he said.

The Attorney-General of Enugu State, Mrs. Priscilla Emehelum, represented by Mr. Amaechi Ngene of the Ministry of Justice said that persons with disabilities were equally affected by corruption in Nigeria and they might seem to be more affected.

Emehelum called on the government to inaugurate National Commission for Persons with Disabilities without further delay so as to oversee ihe implementation of the Law in state’s levels.

She said that it was corruption that turned Nigeria into the poverty capital of the world despite her stupendous and prodigious human and natural endowment.

The Chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons Living with Disabilities, Enugu Chapter, Mr. Gab Nnamani, said that the domestication of the Act in the country would go a long way to reduce poverty among the persons with Disabilities.

Nnamani added that the inclusion of the Person with Disabilities in every sector in Nigeria would give them the opportunity to join in resisting and fighting corruption.

He said that the association would embark on sensitization 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.

The Resource Person, Mr Okey Kalu, of the 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.

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 brought to a minimal level with the inclusion of persons with Disabilities in all areas of the sectors in Nigeria.

He said that the awareness was also to encourage those with disabilities not to join in partaking in corrupt practices.

He called on the Enugu State Government to pass the Persons with Disabilities’ Law so as to make them partake in activities of the government in the state.

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