A coalition of Civil Society Organisations has challenged the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, to release the names of Non-Governmental Organisations that were funded by foreign agents to “destabilise” the country.
This was stated in a joint statement signed by four civil society organisations: Enough is Enough, Media Rights Agenda, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, and Paradigm Initiative.
The statement was made in response to Mohammed’s remarks last week, in which he claimed that many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were funded by foreign agents to work against Nigeria.
In his statement, the minister cited the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, which sued the Federal Government after Twitter was suspended.
In a statement titled, ‘Enough of the Harassment of SERAP and Other NGOs!’ made available to the media on Friday, the CSOs condemned Mohammed’s claims as a “reckless attempt to incite Nigerians against NGOs and undermine their credibility.”
The statement partly read, “Last month, Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, in his usual manner, made the unfounded and false statement that some Nigerian NGOs ‘are working to destabilise Nigeria’ – and went on to attack NGOs that had exercised their constitutional right to challenge the Nigerian government in a court of law over the Federal Government’s indefinite suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.
“Nothing could be further from the truth than the minister’s wild claims and allegations. We reject the allegation that the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and other NGOs that sued the Nigerian Government are working to destabilise Nigeria or against the country’s interest.
“We condemn the statement as a reckless attempt to incite Nigerians against NGOs and undermine their credibility.”
Challenging the minister, the coalition said, “Mohammed stated that ‘…the government was in receipt of reports that some of the NGOs were on the payroll of foreign agents, traducers with ulterior motives to destabilise Nigeria’.
“We challenge him to release the list of these NGOs, along with those that are, according to him, ‘not working for the interests of the people of the nation’ and proceed to prosecute them in accordance with Nigeria’s laws.”