Plateau plans to prune civil society groups

Plans are underway by the Plateau State Government to prune the over 800 civil society groups in the state to make them effective.

The Commissioner for Special Duties, Inter Governmental Affairs/NGOs, Irimiya Werr, told reporters in Abuja yesterday: “There are existing ones, which, to our data, need to re-register and map out their services for the benefit of the citizens.

“Our intention is to streamline the NGOs to entrench transparency and accountability. Plateau is the only state that has created special ministry to oversee their activities.”

On the NGOs Bill before National Assembly, he said: “Though it is controversial, we commend the initiators, hoping that when passed into law, it will address a lot of issues affecting inclusive governance in the country.

“Basically, there is an initiative that is called open partnership, which started with 11 countries; now over 78 countries have embraced it to promote accountability in government and make citizens part of the government.”

He, therefore, urged the lawmakers to look at the areas causing friction between the government and CSOs, adding that “the government is about people, and there should be compromise between the two parties so that we can move forward.”