The Nigerian government announced it has signed the Instrument of Ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa.
Announcing the development, the Presidential spokesman for the Nigerian president, Ajuri Ngelale, said s in a statement that President Tinubu signed the document on Thursday evening. According to the statement:
“I, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, do hereby formally declare that the Federal Republic of Nigeria accepts the aforementioned Protocol and undertakes to faithfully perform and carry out the stipulations therein contained,” the statement quoted the President as saying.
“In witness whereof, I, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, have set my hand and Seal of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on this Instrument of Ratification at Abuja on this 19th day of October in the year Two Thousand and Twenty-Three.”
Background
The African Disability Protocol was adopted in January 2018 by the African Union, to address forms of discrimination affecting people with disabilities in the continent. It is also the legal framework based on which member states of the African Union are expected to formulate disability laws and policies to promote disability rights in their countries. The protocol addresses and encompasses specific issues such as customs, traditional beliefs, harmful practices and the role of the family, caregivers and community. It also deals with community-based rehabilitation and minority groups within the African disability community, including people with albinism.
The protocol was adopted in 2018 as the Disability Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Banjul Charter). It will come into effect only after it is signed and ratified (made legally binding) by 15 member states of the African Union.
