Foundation expresses concern over bill to regulate NGOs

Ambassadors of the Women Too Africa (WTA) from across different constituencies in Oyo State, in partnership with CIVICUS, have raised concern over some sections of the bill seeking the establishment of the Non-governmental Organisations Regulatory (Establishment, etc.) Commission and the certain roles it would play in regulating non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria.

The bill, sponsored by Hon Umar Buba Jubril in 2016, seeks to empower the Federal Government to regulate and monitor the activities of NGOs.

Basheerah Lawal, one of the twenty WTA ambassadors, representing Egbeda Constituency, on Thursday in Ibadan, raised concern over the ambiguities in the bill and how it will pose a challenge to NGO and CSO operations in the country.

Lawal stated that the event was part of her project in defending civil space and digital rights, tagged ‘Community advocacy against the restrictive provisions of the NGO Bill in Oyo State’.

She stated that though certain sections of the bill are necessary for NGO operations in the country, some sections are not.

According to her, sections of the bill that involve multiple registrations, renewal of registration every two years, duplication of approval for project execution, duplication of duties on financial regulation and reporting, and the request of donor to contribute to the commission for the capacity building of NGOs are not in the best interest of NGOs and the people and societies they serve.

“This bill, if passed into law, will affect NGOs and their work. The government is not doing enough. NGOs are there to impact people and society government cannot reach directly. This bill will slow down our work and impact with its unnecessary bureaucracy,” Lawal added.

The programme manager of Hope for Second Chance (HOSEC) Foundation, Joy Oladejo, and the project manager of the foundation, Ayooluwa Adewole, lent their voice to the issue, describing the NGO Bill as an instrument that would favour the government more than people, especially ordinary people in underserved communities and victims of violence who urgent help would not be able to get it because the NGOs needs to get approval before they can assist them.

Oladejo and Adewole recounted their experience working and seeking approvals from the government for their NGO work, which took months to process, adding that sections of the NGO Bill on multiple registration, regulation, and taxation will limit the work and impact of NGOs and CSOs in the country, hence should not be passed into law.

They emphasised that it is not necessary to have another law governing NGO and CSO operations when the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 2020 is still in existence, adding that such duplicate policy or regulation by the government is uncalled for and should be reviewed.

Glory Orimoloye, a participant at the event, echoed Oladejo’s and Adewole’s stance on the bill, stressing that the government should review sections of the bill that will hamper or introduce bureaucracy in NGO operation in Nigeria, which will slow down projects and cause donors and potential donors not to have faith in the civic sector of the country.

Other participants contributed their opinions through group discussions and came up with resolutions, which will be further deliberated on for policy and advocacy purposes.

The WTA ambassador, Basheerah Lawal, revealed that the project was meant to create awareness on the NGO Bill and train the ambassadors on the proper way to lead an advocacy, instead of ranting online and calling names, as this will not call the lawmakers or responsible agencies to order, adding that at the end of the petition, they will come up with further actions.