Over the past few months, I have watched with keen interest how one of the candidates, Akin Rotimi had been campaigning for his election into the Federal House of Representatives Ekiti North constituency 2.

I have watched how he’s been meeting with various groups of people and in one of those posts on Facebook, I commended him and asked if he would tow a different part from the usual practice of some of our regular politicians.

Unlike our day to day politicians, Hon Akin Rotimi promptly responded to my comment on Facebook and expressed his readiness to take action. He didn’t just stop there, I was surprised when he suddenly called me one day and asked for the contact of the leadership of PWDs in Oye/Ikole LGAs. Finally, he recently met with both PWDs in Ikole and Oye LGAs separately and had a robust and issue-based discussions with them contrary to the usual norms.

For the record, I have never set my eyes on him before and even now except via social media. However, he’s the only one I have seen of recent times among the political class having a separate and special meeting with the disability community. I was also reliably informed of the critical discussions he had with them as against the usual political charity model and stomach infrastructure.

I owe no one any apology whatsoever if I vote for him and also ask my other families, friends and colleagues to vote for him for this singular act of recognizing the disability community.

I do sincerely appeal to Hon Akin Rotimi to honour every promises he made to the disability community after his victory. And I also call the disability community to do the needful to proof that our figures and population is not a joke.

Inclusion of persons with disabilities in the electoral and political space is my top priority where policies, legal frameworks, programmes and activities are tailored towards giving persons with disabilities the needed space to thrive socially, economically, academically, emotionally, physically and developmentally free of discrimination.