Diri Signs Bayelsa Disability Rights, Teaching Hospital Laws
Persons with disabilities in Bayelsa State now have legal protection against exclusion after Governor Douye Diri signed the Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) Bill into law, alongside legislation formally establishing the Bayelsa Medical University Teaching Hospital (BMUTH).
Diri assented to the bills on Wednesday during the 188th State Executive Council meeting at Government House, Yenagoa, describing the PWDs legislation as “profound” and “the people’s law” as it guarantees dignity, equal opportunity, and fair treatment for all Bayelsans regardless of physical condition.
The governor commended the sponsor, Dr. Charles Daniel, member representing Brass Constituency I, for his persistence, calling the law one of the best to emerge from the state legislature. He said the law would address the exclusion of persons with disabilities in public and private infrastructure.
“I had directed the Deputy Governor when he was the Chief of Staff to initiate an Executive Bill that would take care of our brothers and sisters living with disability,” Diri said. “I was later informed there was already a private member bill sponsored by Dr. Daniel, and so I directed the executive arm to work with him. That is the product we have today.”
He added, “We often build houses and public infrastructure without considering the entrance and parking spaces for our brothers and sisters with disability.”
Speaker of the State Assembly, Abraham Ingobere, said the disability bill had its first reading on October 15, 2024 and was passed on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, following months of legislative processes, including stakeholder engagements and public hearings. The legislation is expected to provide a framework promoting access to education, healthcare, and employment for PWDs while safeguarding them from discrimination.
Ingobere said the agency created by the law would have a part-time chairman appointed by the governor and a Director-General, who must be a person with disability, to oversee daily operations. He noted that public transport, parking lots, and buildings must be made accessible, with one in every 10 seats in a public bus reserved for physically challenged persons and marked spaces set aside in public parking lots.
The chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons With Disabilities, Bayelsa Chapter, Mr. Mayor Doutiminariye, described the governor’s action as a “miracle,” thanking him for ensuring the protection and recognition of physically challenged persons since the administration’s inception.
On the teaching hospital, Diri said the law ends years of debate over the need for a second teaching facility in the state. “So, from today we have established a teaching hospital, an institution of its own for the medical university,” he said, noting earlier arguments over whether it was economically wise to run two teaching hospitals alongside the existing Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital. He maintained the decision was anchored on necessity, stressing that the state cannot operate a medical university without a teaching hospital.
At the same meeting, Diri dissolved the board of Bayelsa United Football Club and sacked its technical crew following the team’s relegation from the Nigeria Professional Football League to the Nigerian National League. He said an interim management would oversee the team’s reorganisation and directed affected officials to hand over club property to the Commissioner for Sports Development without delay.