Director-General of The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr Muda Yusuf has urged the National Assembly to stop considering the Non-Governmental Organisation Regulatory Commission Bill in the interest of democracy, transparency, accountability and inclusiveness.
He said, “NGOs and civil society organisations are a stabilising force and platforms through which the citizens could freely express them to promote inclusiveness and participation in democratic processes. Many economic, social and political policies have been shaped through input from NGOs and civil society organisations. The NGO Regulatory Bill is clearly not consistent with democratic ideals and values”
He further said, “Many important and critical policy reforms were the result of very active advocacy by the private sector bodies. We have seen reforms at sectoral and macro-economic levels which were outcomes of unrelenting voice of the Nigerian private sector organisations. Such reforms have not only benefitted the economy, but have impacted on the citizens positively.”
He also noted, “The foreign exchange policy and trade policy to advance the interest of domestic investors resulted from advocacy of the private sector. The NGO Regulatory Bill, in its present form, will without doubt stifle and repress advocacy initiatives of the private sector organizations.”
He said, to oversee that NGOs conduct their affairs in a manner consistent with the laws, Companies and Allied Matters Act and Money Laundering Act had adequate regulatory and institutional frameworks.
Yusuf also urged the National Assembly in terms of strengthening existing regulatory and institutional frameworks for the oversight of NGOs and civil society organisations, if there were genuine worries over the activities of some of them.
The bill is seeking establishment of an NGO Regulatory Commission that will issue renewable licences to NGOs and look into how they spend money received from donors. The bill also seeks that NGOs should submit reports about their finances to the commission.