By David Akinmola
The Financing Reporting Council (FRC) has revealed plans to implement a governance code for Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and faith-based institutions, Nigeria Not-For-Profit Governance Code (NNFPGC), to promote accountability in governance in the country.
This, the council’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Rabiu Olowo disclosed at the stakeholders’ engagement on the draft of NNFPGC, saying that the council will continue to enforce compliance on the groups under the Not-For-Profit scheme in Nigeria.
Olowo also stressed that by upholding good governance, the Code would help moderate risks such as fraud, misuse of funds, and governance failures, which can lead to regulatory crackdowns or loss of funding.
However, by doing this, he said that the council will demand accountability and transparency because the Nigeria Not-for-Profit Governance Code is a critical framework for promoting transparency and ethical conduct within the non-profit sector in Nigeria.
According to him, in this way, the draft Governance Code not only strengthens individual organisations but also contributes to the overall stability and sustainability of the not-for-profit sector in Nigeria.
At the conference, the Chairman, the Technical Working Group (TWG), Dr. Joe Abah said, “We looked at what other countries have done because we want to develop a sustainable and inspirational code.
The purpose of the code is to improve public trust because the trust barometer of the Non-profit sector over the years has been dwindling, he said.
Also, the representative of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Lagos Chapter, Pastor Barnabas Otoibi, of the Temple Rebuilders Ministry, demanded that faith organisations be allowed to operate according to their scriptures to be useful to God and society.
In the same vein, a representative of Spaces for Change/Action Group on Free Civic Space, Patrick Allain, observed that the governance code is an attempt to regulate the not-for-profit organisations over.
