Adamawa State House of Assembly elects disabled member as its new speaker in a first for Nigeria

ADAMAWA States House of Assembly has become the first legislature in Nigeria to elected a physically challenged person as its leader after Hon Barthiya Wesley emerged as the speaker at the inaugural plenary session earlier today.

Hon Wesley, the lawmaker representing Hong constituency, was elected unopposed as the speaker of the eighth Adamawa State House of Assembly. Hon Buba Mohammed Jijiwa representing the Jada Mbulo constituency also emerged as the deputy speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly unopposed.

With this unprecedented step, Hon Barthiya becomes the first physically challenged person to be elected leader of a legislature in Nigeria. Although he was not born with a disability, Hon Barthiya survived a crash early on in life that left him with one of his arms amputated.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities names the disabled as those who have long term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments, which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. This technically makes Hon Barthiya a disabled person, which is a major achievement for disability campaigners.

Hon Barthiya, a second term lawmaker elected under the Peoples Democratic Party, takes over as speaker from Hon Aminu Iya-Abass following his election as the senator representing the Adamawa Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly. Hon Barthiya, who was elected in 2019, emerged as one of the youngest lawmakers ever elected into the state legislature in his late 30s.