By Mary Onyia
A coalition of 86 Nigerian, African, and international civil society organisations (CSOs) has urged the National Assembly to immediately withdraw what it described as repressive bills before lawmakers, warning that their passage would shrink civic space, erode constitutional freedoms, and undermine Nigeria’s democracy ahead of the 2027 general elections. At a joint press conference in Abuja on Monday, the coalition argued that the proposed Foreign Aids (Regulation, Transparency and Disclosure) Bill, 2026 (SB.1034) and the bill compelling social media companies to establish physical offices in Nigeria would hand excessive powers to the executive, weaken civil society, and threaten free expression.
The coalition, represented by the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Awwal Musa Rafsanjani; Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Dauda Garuba; Chief Executive Officer of Triple C, Lydia Odeh; and Country Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, said Nigeria’s civic space was facing one of its gravest threats since the return to democratic rule in 1999. Reading a joint statement, the groups alleged that authorities had increasingly relied on restrictive laws, arbitrary arrests, politically motivated prosecutions, and judicial intimidation to silence dissent.
The statement, endorsed by organisations including Amnesty International Nigeria, CISLAC, CDD, SERAP, BudgIT, Yiaga Africa, Connected Development (CODE), Media Rights Agenda, ActionAid Nigeria, Global Rights, the International Press Centre (IPC), the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), and the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), warned that the pending bills form part of a broader pattern of shrinking civic freedoms. It cited the prosecution of activist and publisher Omoyele Sowore, alleged reprisals against SERAP, the use of the Cybercrimes Act against journalists and critics, and a May 2026 Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) report documenting 91 cases of journalists being arrested, attacked, or harassed across 13 states and the FCT during the first three years of the current administration.
According to the coalition, the timing of the proposed legislation is particularly troubling as the country prepares for the 2027 elections. “Rather than creating an open environment where citizens, journalists, civil society organisations and political actors can participate freely, these measures risk entrenching fear, self-censorship and intolerance of dissent. Independent advocacy, investigative journalism, and public scrutiny are not threats to democracy; they are essential safeguards of constitutional governance and accountability,” the statement said.
The groups argued that although the Foreign Aids Bill seeks to promote transparency in the use of foreign assistance, it instead creates an overly broad regulatory regime that could subject independent organisations to state control. They opposed provisions establishing a Foreign Aid Regulatory Commission (FARC) with powers to register aid recipients, conduct inspections, impose sanctions, and compel compliance with government-defined priorities, insisting the proposed body would duplicate the roles of existing agencies such as the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML).
The coalition also rejected the bill requiring social media companies to establish physical offices in Nigeria as a condition for operating, arguing that such a requirement is neither necessary nor proportionate. It warned that the proposal could facilitate censorship, restrict access to information, discourage innovation and foreign investment, and pressure technology firms to prioritise political interests over internationally recognised human rights standards. The organisations maintained that both bills violate Sections 39 and 40 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, as well as Nigeria’s obligations under regional and international human rights treaties.
Calling the bills a defining test of Nigeria’s democratic commitment, the coalition urged the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and all lawmakers to withdraw the proposed legislation and ensure that future laws affecting civic space comply with constitutional and human rights standards. It also demanded broad consultations with civil society, journalists, digital rights advocates, and other stakeholders before such legislation is enacted, declaring: “The National Assembly now faces a defining constitutional choice. It can enact legislation that expands executive control, shrinks civic space and accelerates democratic decline, or it can uphold the Constitution, reaffirm democratic governance, accountability and the rule of law.”
With reports from the Guardian