The Caritas Nigeria and Joint
Development and Peace Centre (JDPC) have revealed that promotor of the
anti-Non-Government Organisation (NGO) bill before the National Assembly, Hon. Umar
Jibril lied when he claimed non-inclusion of churches and religious organization,
reports ITRealms.
Both Caritas and JDPC are the organs of relief
and development on behalf of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, duly registered
as Incorporated Trustees under the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria.
The National Director, Caritas
Nigeria and JDPC, Fr. Evaristus Bassey made this revelations, warning that the
anti-NGO bill is equally an anti-Christianity bill.
He noted that most Catholic
Dioceses and Archdioceses and Christian Churches that are registered in Nigeria
under the CAC are registered as Incorporated Trustees and therefore fall under
the NGO categorization; therefore unless a separate categorization is
established for religious organisations, by law they are seen as
incorporated Trustees and therefore as Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
Fr. Bassey said Caritas
Nigeria and JDPC have refrained from making any public statements hitherto
because in the spirit of collaboration, have been working with the House Committee
on NGOs and Development Partners, to come up with a legal framework that was
mutually acceptable.
“Caritas Nigeria and
JDPC have attended public hearings in the past on similar bills on the control
NGOs, which did not see the light of the day as Acts of Parliament,” Fr. Bassey lamented, stressing they are now constrained to make public
its position based on the groundswell of public opinion and condemnations
that have greeted the new NGO bill as presented by the Deputy Majority Leader
of the House of Representatives, Hon. Umar Jibril.
The two groups in a
six-point item, he said, have raised issues during interactive
sessions with the Hon. Speaker organized by Situation Room
on why there have been not less than eight attempts on the floor
of the House to control NGOs instead of providing public financial support to
NGOs as is done in many nations of the world. To this end Caritas Nigeria
and JDPC and other NGOs would only accept an NGO Bill that would guarantee
public financial support especially to humanitarian NGOs without compromising
the independence of the NGOs.
In addition, he said, “Caritas
Nigeria and JDPC appreciate the need for members of the House to be
acknowledged by their constituencies as having put forward a bill for
consideration. However this should not be at the expense of the reputation of
the entire House; presently the National Assembly is perceived as a
cesspool of corruption, and such bills that seem to put the House on a face-off
with citizens only portray the House as intent on protecting a
‘Lootocracy’ that should not be questioned, hence the intent on muzzling
NGOs. This bill is not in the interest of the House itself.
Equally, Caritas Nigeria
and JDPC advocated for more collaboration between House Committees and the
leadership; for as the majority leader, Hon. Umar Jubril should have been aware
of efforts between the House Committee on NGOs and Development Partners and
CSOs, including Caritas Nigeria and JDPC. Hon. Jubril’s disruptive
effort is highly suspicious, especially against the backdrop of such
security threats as the herdsmen attacks which are being seen as part of
a sinister agenda of domination. Knowing fully well that his religion
demands him to use his position to promote and protect religion, is this
Hon. Umar’s subtle way of promoting and protecting his religion by setting
up a framework in which others might be persecuted ?
“We would advise that in
the light of all the deep concerns expressed by well-meaning citizens,
the National Assembly should drop all attempts to legislate on NGOs and allow
NGOs originate such legislation themselves as private member’s bill,”
he said.
Fr. Bassey further noted
that, while “we may have a few bad eggs among the NGOs, the main concern of all
arms of government should be how to change the perception of Nigerians about government as ineffective,
corrupt, wasteful and lacking of vision. Now that Hon.
Umar Jubilhas made a name for himself, he should withdraw the bill and
stop adding fuel to an already heated polity. The bill should not move further
than it has reached already.”
Caritas Nigeria and JDPC,
he said, have urged all NGOs that employ staff to collect and remit
PAYE of their staff to their various States Revenue services, make
the mandatory annual returns to Federal Inland
Revenue Service(FIRS) after their annual audits, and get the Special
Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) certification from EFCC as
required, especially if they receive foreign funding, as we
believe rightly that there are already enough regulatory frameworks
on ground to make superfluous any self-seeking piece of legislation.
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