By NAOMI SHARANG

A bill to coordinate and ensure transparency and disclosure in the management of foreign aid, grants and donations in Nigeria, on Wednesday, scaled second reading in the Senate.

The Bill, sponsored by Sen. Ibrahim Dankwambo (PDP-Gombe North), is entitled: “A Bill for an Act to Provide for the Regulation, Coordination, Transparency and Disclosure of Foreign Aid, Grants and Donations in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2026 (SB. 1034).”

Leading the debate during plenary, Dankwambo said the proposed legislation was aimed at bringing order, accountability and strategic coordination to the management of foreign aid in the country.

He said Nigeria remained a major recipient of foreign aid through grants, technical assistance, humanitarian support and concessional financing from bilateral and multilateral partners.

According to him, although such inflows have contributed significantly to sectors including health, education, agriculture and humanitarian response, the country’s foreign aid ecosystem remains fragmented, weakly coordinated and insufficiently transparent.

He noted that donor-funded projects were often scattered across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), sometimes executed outside the national budget framework, or duplicated and misaligned with national priorities.

“This weak coordination undermines efficiency, reduces value for money and in some cases, erodes public trust,” he said.

Dankwambo said the Bill was anchored on Sections 80 to 83 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which vested control of public funds in the National Assembly which empowered the Auditor-General to audit public accounts.

He argued that foreign aid, once received and applied in Nigeria, constituted public resources and should therefore be subjected to constitutional oversight, transparency and accountability.

The lawmaker said the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, also required prudent management of public resources and the integration of revenues and expenditures into a coherent fiscal framework.

He said the proposed legislation would close a critical gap by ensuring that foreign aid was not treated as “off-budget” or excluded from national accountability structures.

“The problem is not the absence of institutions, but the absence of a binding legal framework that coordinates them,” Dankwambo said.

He explained that the Federal Ministry of Finance engaged donors, while the Budget Office integrated some projects, the Debt Management Office managed concessional loans and the Accountant-General tracked disbursements.

However, he noted that there was no single statutory framework compelling all actors, including NGOs and sub-national governments, to harmonise their activities, disclose information and ensure accountability.

He said the Bill would provide the required legal framework through a National Donor Coordination Framework anchored on existing structures, mandatory registration and a national database for foreign aid, budget integration and alignment with national development priorities.

Contributing to the debate, Sen. Adams Oshiomhole (APC-Edo North), said from recent reports, “we have seen instances in advanced countries where foreign funds were allegedly provided to certain individuals and groups.

“This is to pursue activities capable of undermining national unity and creating divisions within societies. We have our own share of such experiences.

“The truth is that no nation is immune to individuals who are willing to take advantage of external support to pursue interests that may not be in the national interest”.

He added “Therefore, I believe the bill should provide appropriate mechanisms for enforcement and sanctions in cases of non-disclosure.

“We have a responsibility to protect the peace, unity and stability of our nation and I do not think any well-meaning Nigerian should object to that”.

In his remarks, the Senate President commended Dankwambo who was a former Accountant-General of the Federation.

“He has extensive knowledge of foreign grants and assistance and understands where some of these funds go.

“He is also well versed in the activities and backgrounds of some NGOs.

I believe, therefore, that nobody was better suited to bring this kind of bill to the Senate at this time then him”.

Akpabio, thereafter, referred the bill to the Committees on National Planning and Economic Affairs, Finance and Foreign Affairs for further legislative actions to report back within six weeks. (NAN)

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