The Senate has passed for second reading a bill seeking stricter oversight of foreign aid, grants and humanitarian support received by Nigeria.
The development was disclosed on Wednesday by Senate President Godswill Akpabio after the upper chamber considered the proposed legislation and referred it to three committees for further legislative work.
The proposed law, sponsored by Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo (PDP, Gombe North), seeks to establish a legal framework for the coordination, registration, disclosure and management of foreign assistance, grants, donations, humanitarian support and concessional financing across the country.
The bill also proposes the creation of a national database for donor-funded projects, making the registration of all foreign assistance compulsory to improve public access to information on externally funded programmes.
After the bill scaled second reading, Akpabio referred it to the Senate Committees on National Planning and Economic Affairs, Finance, and Foreign Affairs, directing them to submit their report within six weeks.
Leading the debate, Dankwambo said Nigeria continues to receive grants, technical support, humanitarian assistance and concessional financing from bilateral and multilateral partners, but warned that the present arrangement lacks proper coordination and openness.
The lawmaker also stated that donor-funded projects are frequently spread across Ministries, Departments and Agencies without proper alignment, saying they are sometimes executed outside the national budget framework, duplicated, or misaligned with national priorities, a situation he said reduces public confidence.
The bill draws its legal backing from Sections 80 to 85 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which empower the National Assembly to oversee public funds and authorise the Auditor-General to audit public accounts. It also aligns with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, by providing for the inclusion of foreign assistance in Nigeria’s fiscal planning and development programmes.
Its major provisions include a National Donor Coordination Framework anchored on existing government structures, compulsory registration and public disclosure of foreign assistance, inclusion of donor-funded projects in national development plans and budgets, as well as penalties for the diversion, misuse or failure to register foreign assistance.
Akpabio said the Senate would continue pursuing laws that strengthen accountability, improve public trust and ensure development interventions deliver measurable benefits to Nigerians.