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Tag: Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)

  • Activists seek harmonisation of procurement laws, others

    Activists seek harmonisation of procurement laws, others

    • By Damola Kola-Dare and Fareedah Akanbi

    The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and Transparency International Defence and Security have called for greater civilian oversight of defence budgets, amendment of the Audit Act to strengthen accountability, adoption of international principles for public disclosure of defence expenditure, and harmonisation of procurement laws.

    This was the crux of discussions at a capacity-building workshop for journalists in Lagos. The workshop was held with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

    It had the theme: “Enhancing Investigative and Reporting Capacity of the Media in Exposing Financial, Procurement, and Operational Activities in the Defence and Security Sectors.”

    It was aimed at equipping journalists with tools to investigate corruption, promote ethical journalism, and rebuild public trust in national security institutions.

    CISLAC Executive Director, Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), hailed journalists for their role in promoting public accountability and urged them to use investigative journalism to expose corruption, inefficiencies, and rights abuses within the security establishment.

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    He emphasised that CISLAC has long worked to ensure transparency in defence procurement and noted that the sector’s persistent opacity has hampered Nigeria’s ability to tackle insecurity.

    He lamented that widespread corruption and mismanagement of defence funds have left security agencies under-resourced, with poor welfare leading to low morale among personnel.

    He also decried the depletion of Nigeria’s Excess Crude Account, originally created to stabilise the economy during oil price shocks, noting reports that about $500 million was allegedly spent on arms purchases between 2015 and 2023 equipment yet to be fully accounted for.

    He urged the government to institute transparent defence procurement processes, improve the welfare of security personnel, and empower journalists to hold public officials accountable in the interest of national security and good governance.

    Rafsanjani reaffirmed CISLAC’s commitment to promoting transparency, accountability, and good governance in Nigeria’s security architecture.

    CISLAC Programme Manager, Abubakar Jimoh, emphasised the need for greater transparency and accountability within Nigeria’s defence and security sector. He explained that while cost-related details of government agreements, such as the recent hardware production deal between the Ministries of Steel and Defence can be reviewed, the contents remain classified for national security reasons.

    He warned that excessive secrecy weakens governance, fuels corruption in procurement and personnel management, and erodes institutional credibility. He also cited challenges such as proxy contractors, politically influenced recruitment, cash-based transactions, and poor human rights compliance.

    Jimoh sought reforms to improve oversight, data integrity, and adherence to international standards. He concluded by urging a review of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to ensure a proper balance between operational secrecy and public accountability.

  • Group wants anti-corruption agencies strengthened

    Worried about the rate at which corruption cases reported by the media are swept under the carpet, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), an Abuja-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) led by its Executive Director, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, recently organised a meeting in Lagos with Advisory Committee on Strengthening Legislative Accountability and Anti-Corruption Mechanisms (SLAAM) to proffer solutions to the ugly trend.

    The meeting was part of efforts to strengthen legislative mandate in the fight against corruption. The meeting held in Lagos was sequel to the Report of Analysis on Media Reports on Corruption Cases in Nigeria, which was launched last week in Abuja.

    The analysis of media reportage on corruption is published by CISLAC to serve as advocacy tool for improving legislative role in the fight against corruption. At the meeting, the advocacy group identified and enumerated some challenges hampering effective legislative oversight to curb corruption.

    According to Rafsanjani, the limitations of the Press Corps at both chambers of the National Assembly (NASS) to embark on investigative journalism to expose corruption in the performance of oversight, rotational transfer of Committee Clerks affect the quality of legislative input at the committee level, non-participation of the public in the process leading up to the passage of the budget, the non-existence of a performance appraisal to spur to legislators to their mandates,  insufficient capacity on the part of civil society organisations to meaningfully engage the legislature for a positive change and poor funding of the committees to effectively carry out oversight functions.

    Rafsanjani said the meeting became imperative because there is no single sector of Nigeria’s economy that is spared from the menace of corruption currently. He noted that from education to agriculture, health to environment, oil and gas, public finance sector corruption continues to thrive, thereby hampering our collective desire for a prosperous and developed country.

    He cited the 2018 Annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of Transparency International, which tagged Nigeria as a country with a high level of corruption. The 2018 index places the country at 144 out of 175 least corrupt countries in the world. This ranking, he said, comes in the wake of the Federal Government’s posturing of fighting the menace.

    In order to take government seriously and erase the impression of paying lip service to the war against corruption, Rafsanjani stressed that CPI ranking is a clear indication that government must move beyond talking corruption to actually operationalising extant laws as well as strengthen institutions to fight the scourge, adding that the country’s laws, policies and institutions must be the guiding instruments upon which the fight against corruption must be based.

    He said as part of CSOs contributions to curbing corruption in Nigeria, CISLAC, last week, launched a publication on Analysis of Media Reports on Corruption cases in Nigeria. The Analysis Report which was published in two volumes, show extensive reportage on corruption cases, most of which have gone unpublished.

    “This meeting is a strategic one to engage National Assembly and relevant committees on corruption to be able to pick up media reports on corruption cases. This include corruption in the oil and gas sector, as audit  reports carried out by NEITI from 1999 to date has produced about 10 audited reports with  serious indictment of so many companies not paying  taxes and nothing has been done on non-remittance to the government  coffers.

    “Also, in the areas of education, few cases have been reported and nothing much is done about it even by anti-corruption agencies as well as relevant agencies in the National Assembly.  A lot of ministries and parastatals have been receiving allocations from the Federation Accounts since 2015 and no audited reports are submitted to the Auditor-General.

    “We have also have a lot of issues on procurement which  the media reported  severally and not much has been addressed by either anti-corruption agencies or National Assembly particularly lack of  inauguration of Procurement Council continues to pave way for corruption in the procurement sector.

    Also, corruption in the judiciary has continued to erode confidence among Nigerians about access to justice and integrity in the electoral system, which has continued to tamper with political integrity in the political system.

    “In order to ensure that the leadership of the National Assembly are involved in this fight, we are engaging the Speaker, his office and members of House of Representatives on how to organise a National Summit on Anti-Corruption.

    “And through this media rapport, we have been working with the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Miscellaneous Offenses Commission (ICPC) to pay attention to some of the reports in the media. There is the need for them to work together to ensure that corruption cases are investigated and those involved should be prosecuted. So, the role of the media and CISLAC in this whole intervention cannot be over-emphasised,” he said.

  • Students magazine to hold dialogue

    Youths’ Digest Magazine, organisers of the yearly campus journalism awards, in partnership with the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), has announced the launch of Campus Journalism Dialogue (CJD).

    The magazine is also calling for applications from student writers and campus journalists.

    According to a statement, the initiative formed part of efforts to address challenges facing student- journalists.

    It stated that the dialogue would feature student-writers and campus journalists across tertiary institutions in the Northwest to participate in the maiden edition of the dialogue come April, this year.

    “Youths Digest in partnership with the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) is calling on student-writers and campus Journalists across all tertiary institutions in Northwest geo-political zone to participate in its maiden ‘Campus Journalism Dialogue’ (CJD)”

    The thee-day event, which would educate participants on issues such as hate speech, fake news, defamation, libelous publication and brown envelope syndrome in contemporary journalism practice, among others, called on students of Mass Communication, student-writers and campus journalists to start sending their published works for application.

    “Students of Mass Communication, gifted students with flair for creative writing from other departments and campus journalists can send their opinion articles, literary works, news reports, among other genres of publications to youthsdigest@yahoo.com, with ‘My CJD application’ as subject,” the statement further emphasised.

    All applications are to contain applicants details; name, school, level, contact, email address and passport photo with titles and weblinks of their published articles, creative writings, and news reports attached on or before Thursday ,February 28.

    The statement added that successful applicants would be fully-sponsored to attend the dialogue. Also, gifts and cash prizes have been lined-up for participants who produce quality, authoritative, edifying and top-notch writings during the event.

    “Fifty applicants will be shortlisted and fully-sponsored to attend the CJD after a panel of judges comprising  seasoned journalists, accomplished academics and prolifics writers, have assessed all entries.”

  • Right to food and financing important to tackling inequality – Oxfam

    Right to food and financing important to tackling inequality – Oxfam

    Oxfam, an international non-governmental organization in its enduring commitment to creating a world without poverty where people are capable of building a livelihood, in collaboration with BudgIt Information Technology Network Lagos, on Tuesday held a media chat/conference with relevant stakeholders and members of the press in Lagos to discuss the sundry options and possibilities to tackling inequalities by achieving food for all and financing for development.

    The theme for the program is: Even it up: Tackling inequality in Nigeria through analysis and advocacy, with Right To Food ( R2F ) and Financing for Development ( F4D ) being chief in the discussion. Oxfam, which launched and implemented the strategic partnership programme in 25 countries in 2015 has three basic theories for change: Right to food, conflict and fragility and financing for development.

    According to Mr. Celestine Okwudili Odo, Coordinator of private & public sector transparency & accountability coordinator ( Oxfam ), “the organization has five (5) pathways to change: improved policies of government on tax and budget, improved policies of private sector on tax, wages and corporate social responsibility, increased citizen’s voice, stronger and wider alliances across the country.

    According to him, Oxfam’s strategy includes “research, lobby and advocacy, citizens mobilization and enlightenment, networking and alliance building, capacity building for the civil society and the government.

    “Other local partners include; ActionAid Abuja, Niger Delta Budget Monitoring Group ( NDBUMOG ), BudgIT Information Technology Network Lagos, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre ( CISLAC ), KEBETKACHE Women Development and Resources Centre, HEDA Lagos, Farm and Infrastructure Foundation ( FIF ) and Nigeria Association of Nigeria Traders ( NANTS ).”

    Oxfam’s sundry successes includes: Sponsor and lobby for the Right To Food ( R2F ) Bill that is currently before the National Assembly ( NASS ) and has passed Second Reading in the House of Representatives and now on the table of Constitutional Review Committee of the House, over 40,000 Nigerians mainly youths and small-scale farmers mobilized to campaign for increase funding and investment in the agricultural sector, facilitation and mobilization of small-scale farmers to access loans, continues advocacy for the implementation of new National Tax Policy and the Voluntary Income AND Asset Declaration Scheme – VAIDS, and tax amnesty window for tax defaulters towards stopping illicit financial flows and revenue leakages for the government, amongst other successes.

    Oxfam / BudgIT Media Chat
    L-R: Mr. Gabriel Okeowo ( GM, BudgIT ), Mr. Celestine Okwudili Odo ( Oxfam ) and other stakeholders at Oxfam / BudgIT Media Chat

    According to Mr. Celestine, Data collection and Analysis is important to generating contents for advocacy and implementation.

    Explaining the concept of the Right To Food (R2F) Bill, Mrs. Abiola Bayode from Farm and Infrastructure Foundation ( FIF ) said, “It is a human right bill which protects people from hunger.”

    She further said, “The challenge is that the government sees food as a need and not a human right. We want to see that the right to food is explicitly stated in chapter four (4) of the Nigerian constitution; this will make the government more accountable on food security in Nigeria.

    “It is therefore not about distributing food free of charge to all Nigerians, but a necessity to protect the vulnerable people by creating an enabling environment.”

    In addressing some of the challenges encountered in the implementation of the programmes, Mrs. Emem Okon said, “it has been noticed that community needs most often do not get included in the state and federal government budgets.

    “Therefore, we are training members of communities on how to conduct needs assessment. We also train government agencies, parastatals and ministries on community needs assessment to ensure that the extant or future budgets include the needs of the people.”

    Other representatives of stakeholders present at the conference were: Mr. Gabriel Okeowo ( General Manager, BudgIT ), Mr. Kolawole Banwo ( CISLAC ), Mr. Peter Bayode ( FIF ), Mrs. Emem Okon (KEBETKACHE Women Development and Resources Centre), Mr. Azubuike Nwokoye (ActionAid Abuja ), amonst others.

  • Tobacco: Stakeholders suggest products’ tax hike to reduce use

    Tobacco: Stakeholders suggest products’ tax hike to reduce use

    Stakeholders have suggested an increase in taxes of tobacco products in the country to reduce its use and generate revenue for the country.

    They made their views known in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Keffi Local Government Area of Nasarawa State after two days of Technical Working Group workshop on “Tobacco Taxation.”

    The workshop was organised by Federal Ministry of Health in collaboration with Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa.

    Mr Austin Erameh, the Programme Officer of CISLAC, told NAN that one of the surest means of addressing tobacco use and control was the use of tax and price system, which he said would also generate revenue for the Nigerian government.

    He said “once you increase tax on tobacco products, prices will definitely go up and when prices go up, the use of tobacco product drops because there will be little money to buy.

    “With that, an individual will have disposable income to take care of their pressing needs.”

    He added that the workshop, with participants from Federal Ministries of Health, Finance, Budget and Planning and relevant stakeholders, reviewed the way forward for Nigeria and concluded that the country needed to review its tax system to reflect a more progressive system.

    He urged civil society organisations across the country to step up interface with
    government on tobacco control agenda to achieve the goal of drastic use of tobacco by Nigerians.

    Dr Toma Malau, a participant from Federal Ministry of Health, expressed optimism that if tax on tobacco was raised, its use would reduce and Nigerians would live a healthy live.

    He, therefore, urged relevant authorities to review taxes on tobacco products.

    He noted that “the outcome of this workshop is incredible. The expectation is that within the next couple of months, hopefully by the grace of God, tobacco taxes should be reviewed to reduce its patronage and encourage healthy living.”

    Mr Basheer Abdulkadir, another participant from Federal Ministry of Finance, said with positive experiences from other countries, increase in taxation on tobacco would double government revenue, hence the advocacy for increase.

    He said “experiences from countries like Turkey, South Africa, South Korea, Egypt show that increase in taxation on tobacco products can double government revenue.

    “We learnt that South Africa’s revenue increased nine fold between 2005 and 2009 following increase in tobacco products’ taxes.”

  • CISLAC urges FG to establish trust fund for recovered loot

    CISLAC urges FG to establish trust fund for recovered loot

    The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre ( CISLAC ) has urged the Federal Government to set up a separate trust fund to manage funds and assets recovered from proceeds of corruption.

    CISLAC stated this in a communiqué  signed by its Executive Director, Auwal Musa and Global Board of Trustees members, Mr Francis John and Dr Afia Zukiya and issued at the inauguration of the CISLAC global office in U.S. and the SDG 16 Shadow Report.

    The inauguration was held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

    The centre urged the Federal Government to “expedite action on asset recovery by setting up a special integrity trust fund to be monitored by the civil society.

    “This is to ensure that repatriated funds are duly channelled to sustainable development efforts.”

    It urged African countries, specifically Nigeria, to strengthen bilateral relations that would enable them to obtain the necessary information that would facilitate the repatriation of stolen funds from abroad.

    CISLAC, however, said that it was regretable that no clear institutionalised bilateral efforts had been made to curb illicit financial and arms flow or recover stolen funds of Africa, specifically Nigeria, domiciled in foreign countries.

    The civil society group expressed regret at what it termed the presence of an obnoxious CSO bill sponsored by a member of the National Assembly to scuttle the voice of the people.

    The centre stated that the bill is aimed at closing the space that should enable civil society groups to participate in the developmental efforts.

    CISLAC called for the discontinuation of the bill, saying it “poses no good intent for the development of citizens and further robs the country of inclusivity in governance.”

    In his remark, CISLAC Executive Director, Auwal Musa,  acknowledged that Nigeria is in a critical period of  its history going by the current ethnic tension across the country.

    He, however, said the civil society had the mandate to advocate for peace, fairness and social justice as this would bring the much needed development.

    He added that sharing the SDG 16 Shadow Report was critical to inform of the current anti-corruption efforts of the Federal Government and entrench sustainable development.

    SDG 16 is dedicated to the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, the provision of access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable institutions at all levels.

    Musa urged the civil society and all other stakeholders to lend their voices to the clarion call on peace and stability and eschew corruption.

    The Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande, commended CISLAC on its giant strides and efforts at strengthening good governance.

    Bande said corruption was the bane of underdevelopment and social unrest in the country adding, it is the worst epidemic among religious, ethnic and socio-cultural factors affecting the country’s development.

    The Nigerian envoy observed that Nigeria had had some strong leadership whereby everything revolved around the leader but not around creating strong institutions.

    Bande called for the creation of strong institutions saying, building strong institutions should be everybody’s business.

    The Nigerian envoy urged Nigerians to promote Nigeria’s image abroad by highlighting the great achievements made by Nigerians while not losing sight of the challenges.

    The launch was attended by Nigeria’s Deputy Permanent Representative Amb. Samson Itebgoje, House Committee Chair on Poverty Alleviation, Muhammed Wudil, and Africa and Middle East Coordinator of the UN SDGs, Mr Hilary Ogbonna, among others.

  • Procurement Act: CISLAC petitions Dogara, committee over mobilisation fees

    Procurement Act: CISLAC petitions Dogara, committee over mobilisation fees

    An advocacy group, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has petitioned Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and the House Committee on Public Procurement to suspend moves to increase contract mobilization fee from 15 to 50 per cent.

    CISLAC mobilisation Director, Auwal Ibrahim during a briefing, yesterday in Abuja, stressed that such decision would amount to promoting corruption in the procurement processes.

    Auwal argued further that the development is contradictory to provisions of the extant laws, adding that the Act was setup during administration of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo as an instrument to check corruption.

    The House is on the verge of reviewing the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2007 to reflect an increase in the mobilization fee to 50 per cent, removal of the Finance minister as chairperson of the public procurement council and plans to include national defense and security agencies in procurement processes.

    He explained that, “As contained in the extant law, a mobilization fee of 15 per cent to contractor is to enable the contractor to move their equipment to site, while another 30 per cent payable after an inception report, otherwise referred to as interim performance certificate is submitted.”

    “This is followed by another 50 per cent payment when half of the work is done and a balance of 5 per cent is payable after completion of the work. This is the standard worldwide and any contract that fails to meet up with the above is deemed to have commit an offence and punishable under section 58.

    “From the above, it is very clear that payments to contractors are in sequence to guide against abandoning the work and not drag government into unnecessary controversies. The recommendation therefore to give up to 50 per cent mobilization fees will not only further encourage corruption. The 15 per cent as contained in the law (Section 35 of the PPA) is purely a mobilization fees, which implies assisting or mobilizing the contractor to site, and not advance payment,” Auwal added.

    However, the group advised President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute and inaugurate the National Council for Public Procurement (NCPP) in order to sincerely fight corruption and sustain the change agenda.

    CISLAC added that the bill as read on the floor of the House should be discarded because it is allegedly against the principle of transparency and accountability.

  • ‘Tobacco money worse than blood diamonds’

    ‘Tobacco money worse than blood diamonds’

    The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) and Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) have urged Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola to distance his administration from tobacco giants.

    The groups said Fashola’s reception of the management of the British American Tobacco (BAT) should not be repeated.

    In a statement in Abuja, the groups said: “This is a major miss-step by Lagos State and we owe it a duty to remind the governor, seen by many as a role model, that tobacco investment is worse than blood diamonds. Fashola should not endorse BAT’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project.

    “We gathered that BAT is making plans to donate Hilux Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) to the Lagos Security Trust Fund (LSTF), just as some corporations did a few weeks ago. This was carefully planned, so that BAT could interfere in the proposed law to prohibit smoking in public places. This is completely unacceptable.

    “Tobacco companies have demonstrated beyond reasonable conviction that they are enemies of public health and, therefore, enemies of the public good. Their attempt to tap into Fashola’s profile to secure public acceptance is repulsive.

    “We, therefore, plead with Fashola not to taint his political stature with tobacco money. Any porridge from Big Tobacco will run the stomach! A good research by his aides can reveal how political leaders around the world treat funds.

    “What we need in Lagos State is a strong legislation to make corporations accountable for all costs associated with production and profits, and in this case, to make the tobacco industry accountable for the deaths, diseases, environmental, social and other costs associated with smoking.

    “Not only is this unholy visit very disturbing, it has confirmed what we have always said that the tobacco industry will never subscribe to any form of regulation. That BAT top echelon is visiting the Lagos State government at a time the state is contemplating laws to regulate the marketing and sale of cigarettes is very revealing to the discerning.

    “The governor rightly posited that many of the diseases today are caused by the lifestyle choices that people make. We submit that BAT and other tobacco companies, through their misinformation, glamorisation of cigarettes and deceitful marketing strategies, hide vital information on the deadly nature of their products to users to get them hooked on cigarettes.”