Oyo approves 70% budget increase for persons with disabilities

The Oyo State Government has increased the 2025 capital budgetary allocation for Persons with Disabilities by over 70 per cent of what they received in 2024.

The Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, disclosed this in Ibadan during the celebration of the 2024 Stakeholders’ Summit and International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Makinde, represented by the Deputy Governor, Bayo Lawal, said the government had prioritised the welfare of the disability community in his over four-year administration.

The governor noted that all the requests of persons with disabilities for the next year’s budget plans, as submitted during the last Budget Town Hall meetings, contributed to the increase in their capital budget to N877,500,000.

Makinde added that their capital budget was initially N492,000,000, while the Oyo State Agency for Persons with Disabilities’ overhead cost has increased from N315,000,000 to N345,000,000.

He said, “It is believed that both will take care of their requests, which include transportation empowerment, training of the relevant agency with roles for persons with disabilities, training of enforcement agencies for compliance, purchase of assistive devices, mobility equipment, among others.”

The governor added that Oyo State has recruited 510 persons with disabilities into the Oyo State Civil Service.

He said, “I have also given the directive that henceforth, in every ministry, the quota for persons with disabilities must be protected.”

Makinde recalled that, as soon as he assumed office on May 29, 2023, he appointed Barrister Ayodele Adekanmbi as the pioneer Director-General of the Oyo State Agency for Persons with Disabilities.

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Makinde said he equally appointed Mr Timothy Olufemi as the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Disability Matters to ensure that PWDs are carried along in governance.

His words: “And when God granted me the grace of a second term, I reappointed Barrister Adekanmbi again, but this time as the Pioneer Director-General of the Oyo State Agency for Persons with Disabilities, and I gave him the mandate to draw a budget line for the agency, find a suitable and conducive office environment to use, and oversee the redeployment of staff to kick-start the agency for persons with disabilities. I am glad to inform you that all these have been done within 1 year and 6 months of Omituntun 2.0.

“Presently, as we speak, disability cluster groups’ grants and subventions have been approved, and in no distant time, three operational vehicles will be delivered for the smooth running of the Agency for Persons with Disabilities.

“It is on record that I am the first governor to politically empower persons with disabilities by appointing them as Supervisory Councilors and SAs across the entire Local Governments of Oyo State, which is what made us stand out as an all-inclusive government across the country.”

Speaking earlier, the Director-General of the Oyo State Agency for Persons with Disabilities, Ayodele Adekanmbi, said Makinde’s administration is truly committed to providing opportunities for People Living with Disabilities (PwDs).

“The Agency has continued to receive all the necessary support from the administration to ensure that PwDs are carried along.

“Since the coming of Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration, there have been some deliberate initiatives the governor has put in place to improve access to governance and the quality of service to persons with disabilities,” he said.