No fewer than 23 NGOs under the umbrella of the Human Rights Agenda Network (HRAN) have sued the National Assembly, seeking a court order to declare unconstitutional and unlawful the NGO Regulation Bill that just passed the second reading on the floor of the lower chamber.
The groups asked the court to determine whether a judicial order can be made to stop the legislature from deliberating on a bill pending before it and if that is possible, an order stopping further deliberations on the NGO Regulation Bill.
According to the coalition, the bill will violate their right to; freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and non-discrimination, as enshrined under sections 39, 40 and 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
The group also asked the court to declare that the provisions of the NGO Regulation Bill are contrary to section 40 of the Constitution and the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).
Those parts of the bill seek to register and regulate NGOs working on human rights as if they are political parties, and creates extra burden on the registered NGOs than the law has placed on other registered companies.
In a 19-paragraph affidavit in support of the summons, the group, through their counsel Chino Obiagwu, claims that they do not need to wait for the Bill to be passed into law before challenging it.
“Once it can be shown that the Bill is likely to infringe on their rights if passed into law, the court can stop the National Assembly from deliberating on such Bill by virtue of section 46 (1) of the Constitution.”
The controversial bill has generated a lot of heat in the civil rights space. Notables like Prof. Chidi Odinkalu and Ayo Obe have spoken against the legislation.
However, the House of Reps have decided to carry on with the legislation. According to Speaker Hon. Yakubu Dogara, whatever noise people that are supposed to know better make about the bill, the House will not stampeded from carrying out its duty.
No date has been fixed for the hearing.