Teddy Oscar, Abuja
House of Representatives is seeking to regulate donations made to voluntary organisations in the country by empowering the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences commission (ICPC) to monitor the in flow and utilisation of such contributions obtained from donor agencies.
Under the new arrangement, ICPC is to approve the application and dispose within 60 days from the date of receipt of such application.
The bill which provides that any registered voluntary organisation with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) must also register with ICPC, further states in subsection 4(1) that “All voluntary organisations shall make an application for permission to the ICPC in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed among other provisions.
Chairman, House Committee on Civil Society and Donor Agencies, Hon. Ini Udoka, revealed this at a day public hearing on “A bill for an Act to regulate the acceptance and utilisation of financial/material contribution of donor agencies to voluntary organisation and for other matters connected therewith, 2013.”
Udoka stated that the Seventh Assembly of the House of Representatives, in its committed efforts to expose and fight corruption, has enacted relevant laws to curb wastages and introduce sanity in the ways private and public businesses are conducted, hence the bill.
Udoka, who expressed concern over the abuse of the huge foreign assistance channeled through CSOs into the country, stressed the need for a legal framework for the effective regulation, monitoring and ensure utilisation of the aids.
He added that the bill, also known as the ‘Foreign Contribution (Regulation)’, will streamline activities in the sub-sector by ensuring that donor agencies do not give funds to organisations, parastatals and agencies without due consultation with relevant government authorities.
It also aims at empowering ICPC, being a regulatory authority, to monitor the disbursement of funds from donor agencies for effective implementation of targeted projects.
While declaring the public hearing open, the speaker, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who was represented by the deputy House leader, Hon. Leo Ogor, emphasised the need for CSOs to make their input into the bill especially on how it affects their operations.
Sponsor of the bill, Hon. Eddy Mbadiwe, expressed concern over the abuse and misuse of foreign contributions that comes into Nigeria from various donor agencies across the world.
He maintained that funds have been funneled into the country under the guise of social development but was actually meant to promote terrorism.
