I write this letter with an open mind and as a dedicated constituent and a Civil Society Person who has been following up on your style of leadership and also your activities in the National Assembly. I have often defended you on the social media when constituents accuse you of redundancy in the National Assembly because, you are hardly seen moving/supporting any motion or sponsoring any bill. With all passion I correct them on the yardstick for rating a legislature as not limited to bills and motions.
I don’t know if your recent action in the floor of the National Assembly floating a bill proposing an Act to Establish the NGO Regulatory Commission, for the supervision, coordination and monitoring of NGOs and CSOs in Nigeria is as a result of your will to change the tide from being tagged ‘redundant’ or better still, just an outright lack of understanding of the subject matter. I am forced to arrive at this assumption because of the ambiguity and duplication of the existing laws by the proposed bill.
For your information, CSOs and NGOs as with any other entity or legal person are required to carry out their activities within the bounds domestic laws. These laws regulate the establishment, conduct and liability of such organisations and how they fit into the broader framework of Nigerian society. Below are existing laws that directly regulates CSO/NGO;
1. 1999 Constitution;
2. Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) of 2004;
3. Companies Income Tax Act (CITA) of 2004;
4. Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act 1998;
5. Value Added Tax Act of 1993;
6. Value Added Tax Amended Act of 2007;
7. Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act of 2007;
8. Personal Income Tax Act of 2011;
9. National Planning Commission Act of 1993;
10. Prevention of Terrorism Act of 2011;
11. Money Laundering Prohibition Act of 2011 and;
12. Central Bank of Nigeria Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism Regulation of 2009.
With this extant laws directly regulating CSOs and NGOs, of what need Is the creation of a commission to do this again?
A research into the bill Objectives – Sec.7.(1) stated that the commission shall have the following objectives:
a) To ENABLE and ENCOURAGE Non – Governmental Organisations and Civil Societies to accomplish their missions according to the law.
b) To ENSURE THE TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY of the operations of Non – Governmental Organisation and Civil Society and
c) To SUPERVISE Non – Governmental Organisation and Civil Societies to ENSURE that they operate according to the law.
And Functions of the Board Shall be;
a) To FACILITATE and COORDINATE the work of all national and international Non – Governmental Organization in Nigeria;
b) To MAINTAIN the REGISTER of National and International Non – Governmental Organisation operating in Nigeria, with precise sectors affiliations and locations of their activities;
c) To RECEIVE and DISCUSS the annual report of the Non – Governmental Organisations;
d)To ADVISE the Government on the activities of the Non – Governemntal Organisation and their role in development within Nigeria; etc.
For the sake of this letter, I decided to highlight some of the objectives and functions of the board as written in the bill. These objectives and functions clearly confirms my initial stand on your awareness of how NGOs and CSOs function. The stated objectives and functions of the board are already provided for in the existing laws earlier stated above. For instance, Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) of 2004 already provides for the maintenance of register of NGOs in Nigeria. Likewise so many other laws that has already provided for the objectives and functions of the bill proposed by you. A little research would have pointed that.
In addition to the duplication of the functions of other agencies and laws, the bill seeks to ridicule the economic situation of Nigeria as it is now and also seeks to rubbish the ongoing effort of reducing cost of Governance. Also, the bill underrated the scope of work and information – need of the proposed regulatory commission.
Finally, I have had the opportunity to engage you during the 2015 Kogi State Governorship Election on the #VoteNotFight – Election No Be War Campaign. The outcome of that engagement did not avail me the opportunity to be surprised that this bill emanated from you. It is on this note, that I will like to give a broad definition or insight into what an NGO means. A Non – Governmental Organisation(NGO) is any non-profit,voluntary citizens’ group which organized on a local, national or international level. Task – oriented and driven by people with a common interest. NGOs perform a variety of services and humanitarian functions such as, bringing citizens concerns to Governments, advocate and monitor policies and encourage political participation through provision of information . Some are organized around specific issues, such as human rights, environment or health. They provide analysis and expertise, serve as early warning mechanisms and help monitor and implement international agreements. From this definition and or explanation, Even a political party is an NGO. Those Community Organisations/Meetings, Youth Clubs and Association are also CSOs/NGOs. This should paint a picture of the commission’s function.
On this note I will like to end my letter with a passing thought from our own Dear Nelson Mandela – “Poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid, it is man-made and can be removed by the actions of human beings”. With this I call on you to take actions by withdrawing that bill from the National Assembly and focus on more burning National Issues.
Thank You.
Umar Dan’Assabe Muhammed
Executive Director
Youth Emancipation for the Society (ProjectYES)
08037887104, 08112642092
Twitter: @Dan_Assabe
