Disability advocates, a journalist and a public finance analyst have described the N8.2bn allocated to issues affecting persons with disabilities in the 2026 Appropriation Act as grossly inadequate.

They warned that poor budget releases, vague allocations and corruption are undermining efforts to improve their welfare.

They made the observations on Sunday during an X Space titled “Nigeria Disability Budget Discussion,” organised by PWDSpotlight in collaboration with BOFIM and BO News.

The moderator, Habeeb Adisa, who is also the Project Manager at PWDSpotlight, said the organisation’s review of the 2026 Appropriation Act showed that N8.2bn was allocated to issues affecting persons with disabilities, estimated at more than 30 million nationwide.

Giving a breakdown of the allocation, Adisa said N2.0044bn was earmarked for awareness campaigns, programmes and policy development, representing the largest share, while skills acquisition received N1.413bn and construction N1.86bn.

He said the discussion was timely as the country approached the 2027 election cycle, when the performance of governments would come under increased scrutiny.

Speaking on the allocation, Blessing Oladunjoye of BOFIM and BO News said although N8.2bn might appear substantial, it was insufficient to address the needs of persons with disabilities, including inclusive education, healthcare, assistive devices and accessible transportation.

She said the amount would translate to about N273 per person, adding that persons with disabilities often incur additional expenses, such as paying for guides or hiring taxis, which should be considered in budget planning.

“When you think N8.2 billion, much. But in real terms, looking at what exactly they should address, you know that it’s grossly inadequate,” she said.

Oladunjoye argued that disability funding should not be the responsibility of a single agency, noting that infrastructure and public services, including roads, schools, elections and transportation, should be designed to accommodate persons with disabilities.

“We should understand that disability is a cross-cutting issue,” she said.

She also urged journalists to monitor budget implementation by comparing approved allocations with actual releases and expenditure reports, while verifying government claims on the ground.

To illustrate the need for scrutiny, she cited an instance where an agency reportedly claimed to have distributed guide canes to 100,000 blind people, but accompanying photographs appeared to show only about 10 recipients.

On the broader challenge of translating policies into action, a disability-inclusive development specialist, Adebukola Adebayo, said Nigeria had made progress in establishing legal and institutional frameworks for disability inclusion.

He noted that the country had a national disability law, while nearly 30 of the 36 states had enacted disability laws and about 22 or 23 had established disability agencies.

However, he said inadequate funding and poor implementation continued to limit the impact of those policies.

“The only vehicle to do that is the budget,” he said of the need to translate policies into action.

Adebayo cited a study conducted in 2022 or 2023 which reportedly found that less than N5bn was budgeted nationwide for more than 30 million persons with disabilities.

He also said some state disability agencies received less than N1bn annually but were unable to access even a fraction of their approved funds.

“It’s not the lack of policies, but it’s the lack of budget,” he said.

“If you’re budgeting 500 million, for example, for PWDs in your state, and they can’t even draw up to 10 million or 20 million or 100 million, then it means that we are not yet serious about caring for the most vulnerable in the society,” he said.

He further cited UNICEF figures indicating that only three per cent of children with disabilities were able to attend school, arguing that government must take primary responsibility for addressing the challenges.

“Government is the big, big culprit here, both at state and national level,” he said.

Adebayo proposed that every ministry, department and agency should have a disability desk officer or unit to ensure that the needs of persons with disabilities were considered in policy formulation and implementation.

He stressed that disability should be treated as a development issue rather than an act of charity.

“It’s not just about charity, it’s an investment,” he said.

He also identified corruption as a major challenge affecting disability-related spending, recounting an incident during his tenure on the board of the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs between 2016 and 2019.

He said a supplier had delivered a fairly used vehicle under a contract meant for assistive devices and vehicles, adding that the board rejected the item and reported the matter to the state government.

“There’s a lot of corruption in disability budgeting,” he said.

Adebayo alleged that politicians sometimes exploited the vulnerability of those managing disability agencies and urged journalists to scrutinise the quality of procured items and compliance with due process.

He also highlighted a disconnect between government disability agencies and Organisations of Persons with Disabilities, saying the situation often resulted in budgets that failed to reflect the actual needs of beneficiaries.

He called for greater collaboration between both sides, particularly during budget consultations before allocations were finalised.

Adebayo urged journalists to report disability issues from a human rights and development perspective rather than treating them as matters of charity.

On transparency and budget monitoring, Oluwatimilehin Olugbemi of BudgIT said publishing approved allocations was not enough without clear information on how the funds were distributed and spent.

Olugbemi said several budget line items grouped persons with disabilities alongside other vulnerable groups, making it difficult to determine the amount specifically allocated to them.

She cited N250m allocated in Osun State for vulnerable people, widows, persons with disabilities and the elderly.

“The budget description identifies four beneficiary groups, but it does not specify how the money will be distributed among them,” she said.

She called for the publication of details on project scope, fund releases, actual expenditure, procurement records and the number of beneficiaries reached.

Olugbemi also said the absence of codes for some budget line items made tracking difficult, forcing researchers to search through hundreds of pages to identify specific allocations.

“Imagine having to go through over 300 and something pages of a budget document because you’re trying to find a line item.

“We should be able to click on something and be able to read each of the line items,” she said.

Nigeria’s Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act was signed into law in January 2019.

The law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities and provides for the establishment of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities to promote and protect their rights.

Several states have also enacted disability laws since then.

However, the panellists said the challenge now extended beyond legislation to adequate funding, effective implementation, transparency and accountability.

Adebayo also said persons with disabilities accounted for roughly 40 per cent of the country’s out-of-school children, a figure he put at 18 million, noting the need for greater government investment in inclusive education.

Source: punchng.com

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