.Kuka kicks against bill
The House of Representatives Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations and International Development Partners on Wednesday commenced a public hearing on the controversial NGO bill.
The bill, which has come under heavy criticisms, seeks to set up a Federal Agency to be known as the NGO Regulatory Commission to regulate activities of NGOs and civil society organisations, CSOs, across Nigeria.
The hearing has in attendance Civil society organisations, religious leaders among others.
Speaker Yakubu Dogara is represented by the chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Babangida Ibrahim.
Declaring the public hearing open, Ibrahim said, “The roles of the CSO cannot be overemphasised; they are involved in poverty reduction and human rights. The bill to regulate NGOs has generated a lot of public interest. The process of lawmaking will always be subjected to public scrutiny.”
Catholic Archbishop of Sokoto, Mathew Kuka, at the public hearing, said he stands with civil societies firmly and that energies should be diverted to other things, not regulating NGO Bill.
“I think we should divert our energies to other things. The greatest benefit for us in a democracy is freedom.”