YPP reps candidate urges religious leaders to reject NGO Bill in NASS

By Abubakar Yunus Abuja

The candidates of the house of Representatives of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) for Ifako-Ijaye federal constituency, Lagos State, Buraimoh Peter Folajimi has called on the various religious leaders, Civil Society Organisation, Non- Governmental Organizations, and other critical stakeholders to reject NGO Bill.

NGO Bill which is officially entitled ‘Bill for an Act To Provide For The Establishment Of The Non-Governmental Organizations Regulatory Commission For The Supervision, Co-ordination And Monitoring Of Non-Governmental Organizations).

The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives in June 2016, and after two readings it was referred to the House Committee on Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Development Partners in July. Its approval is still pending in the current eighth National Assembly.

Buraimoh made the call at the new year get-together organized by the Folaj 4mation campaign organization and the party in Lagos, yesterday.

He specifically called on the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, David Olaniyi Oyedepo, and the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, (RCCG,) Enoch Adeboye, to use their position to call on the relevant stakeholders to reject the bill.

According to him, when the bill is passed into Law, there would be no right for Church, Mosque, or CSOs activities in Nigeria, and it shows that everybody must be Reporting to Federal Government.

He noted that the main objective of the bill is to establish a federal agency in charge of supervising, coordinating, and monitoring CSOs in Nigeria. If passed, it will give the government sweeping powers over civil society, to the point of threatening its very existence.

“The bill would make it compulsory for all CSOs operating in Nigeria to register with the government every two years and would require them to include details such as the location and duration of proposed activities as well as information on all sources of funding.

” The requirement of frequent re-registration would increase the administrative burden on CSOs; it will also be possible for the registration of CSOs that are critical of the government to be denied or delayed if the government wants to restrict their activities in reprisal.”

Buraimoh lamented that if passed into law, this bill will be a democratic regression. Despite the significant progress made in the advancement of democracy and the development of civil society, the freedoms of association, assembly, and expression are still restricted regularly in Nigeria, and this bill will greatly add to the ongoing restrictions.