The House of Representatives has reiterated the resolve of the Legislature towards holding the Executive arm of government, Non-Governmental Organisations, Civil Society Organizations, Donor Agencies and Development Partners operating accountable to the citizens. Chairman, House Committee on Civil Societies and Development Partners, Rep. Kabir Idris, who stated this during an oversight function to the office of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Nigeria, applauded various humanitarian interventions initiated by ICRC across the country.
The Chairman who stressed the need to investigate the controversies trailing the activities of some NGOs and CSOs, which led to the shutting down of their operations by the Nigerian military, underscored the need for effective monitoring, investigation and constant evaluation of their activities for better productivity. “The mandate of the Committee on Civil Societies and Development Partners, as was clearly articulated in our letter to you, includes among others, the Oversight of Local and International NGOs, Civil Society Organizations, Donor Agencies and Formulation of Policies and Guidelines for the Coordination and Regulation of the Activities of External Donor Agencies in the country.
“We are aware that there are a lot of humanitarian organizations operating in the North Eastern part of the country, including the ICRC, and other local and International NGOs. “We are also aware that the funding for most of these aid activities comes from international donors, and that such funds runs into hundreds of millions of dollars. “Recently there has been a lot of controversy and misinformation relating to the activities of some of these NGOs and the funding organizations, and how such funds are being expended.
“One of the fallouts of these controversies and misinformation was the shutting down of some NGO regional offices by the military. That, in our opinion was a very unfortunate situation because the truth of the matter is that we desperately need the assistance for our brothers and sisters and children who are victims of the insurgency. “However, such incidents could only have happened because of lack of effective monitoring, investigation and constant evaluation of the activities of CSOs and NGOs operating in the country”, Rep. Idris Stated
