The Senate on Wednesday passed for second reading a bill seeking to subject foreign aid, donor-funded projects and grants received by government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and state governments to stricter legislative oversight amid growing concerns over transparency, accountability and national security.
The proposed legislation, sponsored by Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe North), scaled second reading after lawmakers expressed worries that billions of naira in foreign assistance entering Nigeria, particularly through NGOs, are largely outside public scrutiny.
Opening the debate, Dankwambo noted that although Nigeria remains one of the world’s largest recipients of grants, humanitarian assistance, technical support and concessional financing from bilateral and multilateral development partners, the management of such funds has remained fragmented and poorly coordinated.
He said many donor-funded projects are executed outside the national budget framework and spread across various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), resulting in duplication, weak coordination and poor accountability.
According to the lawmaker, the
This post was originally published on this site.
