The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) wants the National Assembly to discontinue the consideration of the NGO Bill in the interest of the democracy, transparency, accountability, inclusiveness and equity in governance.
In a statement signed by Muda Yusuf, director-general of the LCCI, the chamber says the NGO Regulatory Bill is clearly not consistent with democratic ideals and values.
Yusuf says NGOs and civil society organisations are a stabilising force in the Nigerian polity and platforms through which the citizens freely express themselves to promote the cause of inclusion and participation in the democratic process.
Ian NGO Bill is currently being considered by the National Assembly. The Act provides for the establishment of a Non-Governmental Organisations Regulatory Commission for the supervision, coordination, and monitoring of non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations and for related matters in Nigeria.
If this succeeds in the National Assembly, then all non-governmental organisations, national, local international, town unions, associations in Nigeria must register with the Commission and be licensed for a renewable period of two years.
Their annual work-plans and budgets must also be approved by the Commission before implementation.
Yusuf says that many important and critical policy reforms were the result of very active advocacy by the private sector bodies, citing the case of the LCCI, which founded in 1888, which has been a leading player in the economic and business policy advocacy space, making valuable inputs into policy conception and formulation processes since the colonial times.
“We have seen reforms at sectoral and macroeconomic levels which were outcomes of the unrelenting voice of the Nigerian private sector organizations. Such reforms have not only benefited the economy, but have impacted the citizens positively. Some of these reforms initiatives are evident in the telecommunications sector, infrastructure development, interest rate policy and incentives for critical sectors of the economy; the foreign exchange policy; trade policy to advance the interests of domestic investors and many more. The NGO bill [in its present form] will, without doubt, stifle and repress advocacy initiatives of the private sector organisations,” he states.
“Already there are adequate regulatory and institutional frameworks to make the NGOs and civil Society Organizations accountable and operate within the limits of the law. There is the Companies and Allied Matters Act as well as the Money Laundering Act, which have robust provisions to ensure that the NGOs conduct their affairs in a manner consistent with the Nigerian laws.
“Besides, donor agencies have strict accountability and transparency systems and processes that guide the utilisation of donor funds by beneficiaries. What needs to be done is to strengthen existing regulatory and institutional frameworks for the oversight of the NGOs and Civil society organisations if there are genuine worries over the activities of some of them,” he notes.
ODINAKA ANUDU
