Senate Reads Riot Act To Govt Agency On ‘Ineffective’ Coordination Of Foreign Aids

Nigerian Senate at Wednesday’s plenary directed the National Planning Commission (NPC) to develop a policy framework that will ensure that donor aids in the country are put to effective use.

The Senate directed its committees on National Planning, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Diaspora to ensure that the policy framework is developed to regulate the inflow of aids into the country.

The committee will also oversee Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) who are beneficiaries of development aids to “request for, analyze and consider such aid/grants in appropriation of funds for the MDAs activities.”

The Senate also resolved to advise state planning commissions and House of Assemblies to domesticate and implement federal policies and laws that will enable the states to achieve aids effectiveness.

The red chamber made the resolutions after considering a motion on “The need to make Development Aids more effective to work for Nigerians” sponsored by Senator Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe of Kwara Central and 52 other senators.

Oloriegbe had lamented that 60 per cent of foreign aids were usually lost to transaction costs, wastage and capital flight back to the donor countries through the implementing contractors.

According to Oloriegbe, the NPC was not effectively performing its role of aligning donor assistance with national priorities and coordinating donor efforts in all sectors of the economy.

The senator said NPC’s invective regulation of donor aids may result in continued “inefficiencies, delivery failures and weak capacity of local institutions.”

Meanwhile, senators that contributed to the motion emphasised the need to check the activities of non- governmental organisations who received funds from donor agencies without judicious use of the funds.

In his contribution, Senator Ali Ndume said “As I speak, there are about 75 NGOs scattered in Maiduguri that nobody knows what they do.”

“A lot of resources are given to non-state actors without knowing what they are used for,” said Senator Ajibola Bashiru.