The Head of Component II, European Union Agents for Citizen Transformation Program, Ideem Udoekong, called on the Nigerian government to allow civil society organizations to actively participate in the laws that govern them.
According to him, a bill aimed at solving regulatory and administrative problems, among others, for non-governmental organizations in the country has recently passed the stage of second reading in the Senate.
Udoekong said he believed allowing NGOs to participate in the process would make the laws more inclusive and acceptable, thereby improving the level of compliance between organisations.
He spoke at a meeting of the civil society regulatory environment steering committee in Abuja on Friday.
Udoekong said, “CSOs must be allowed to contribute to how they are regulated and they must also be allowed to actively participate in the regulatory process.
“With this, it is then hoped that the laws that regulate CSOs will be more appropriate, more inclusive and more acceptable.
“We are not saying that CSOs should not be regulated; if you want to hold people accountable, you have to be accountable yourself.
“We believe CSOs will be more compliant if they are involved in all required processes.”
He also called for a thorough review of existing CSO laws in the country.
Udoekong said, “As for the existing laws on CSOs, the laws need to be looked at thoroughly and very objectively, as some aspects are not very clear; some of them were borrowed from other countries.
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