Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have informed members of the National Assembly that, they are sceptical about the Bill seeking to regulate their activities because some of its provisions are detrimental to their operations.
The Executive Director of Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Clement Nwankwo stated this while speaking at the Multi-Stakeholders meeting between the Committee, MDAs CSOs and development partners held in Abuja over the weekend.
He said, despite being key to Nigeria’s democracy and development in various sectors, Civil Society Organisations are being subjected to some hassles that affect their operations in the Civil space.
According to him, there are legislations passed by the National Assembly that have affected them, hence their apprehension on some of the provisions the Bill to regulate their activities.
Nwankwo said, “One of the things that happened in this government is that the National Assembly passed a law through an amendment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act…which implies that, Civil Society Organisations should be reporting twice in a year, when companies are required to report once a year.For us, that is a major issue.
“We also have an issue that, the operations of a Civil Society Organisations can simply be taken over by government which we have never seen before”.
However, the Chairman, House Committee on Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Development Matters, Rep. Victor Obuzor stated that, the House is not working against them through the Bill or any other legislation but trying to sanitize the space against abuse.
He said, “The Bill that they talked about, like I said, we are not at war with the civil space. The Civil Societies, what they do for national development, nation building cannot be overlooked. So, we are their friends.
“We have the same objectives, building up the nation, making Nigeria great, and we should work together. So, I think the only error was the non-inclusive attitude towards that policy, that Bill.
“There should have been put on the table to discuss and see wether it will change the civil space or enhance it. Their views should be sought.
“So, I think that’s the only, but the point is that, the Bill also brings forth the knowledge, it strengthens the view that, some form of regulation should still be in place.
“Some people are there, we have the bad eggs among the good eggs, some people are registering NGOs and moving around because they want to come and make money while we have the genuine people who are really working and assisting in nation building.
“What we are doing now, there are a lot of Bills that have been passed but they have not been implemented, talking about things like the Humanitarian law, the Persons with disability Act and all that.
“So, we are concentrating right now at the National Assembly, we are putting them together and implementing those that should be implemented.
“And we are also looking at the space to see what amendments of laws or Acts that can be used to raise policies that will enable the space. That’s what we are doing now”.
It could be recalled that, the House had earlier on Thursday February stepped down a Bill for an Act to establish a regulatory agency for Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).
The Bill sponsored by Rep. Sada Soli Jibia seeks to establish the Agency to ensure NGOs as well as CSOs activities are properly regulated in Nigeria to deliver their mandates in the socio-political as well as other areas of their interventions.
