Nigerian Catholic bishops urge lawmakers to drop Foreign Aid Regulation Bill

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) asked the National Assembly and the federal government not to enact the Foreign Aid (Regulation, Transparency and Disclosure) Bill 2026, Punch reported. Punch said the position was in a September 19 communiqué from the CBCN’s Second Plenary Meeting, held September 10 to 18 at Our Lady and St Kizito Pastoral Centre, Oke-Gada, Ede, in the Osogbo Diocese of Osun State, and that the text was read in Catholic parishes during Sunday Masses. Punch named the signatories as Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso of Kaduna, CBCN president, and Bishop Peter Olukayode Odetoyinbo of Abeokuta, secretary. Agenzia Fides published an English wrap dated September 18 that also recorded the bishops’ request that lawmakers not proceed with the bill.

The CBCN, Punch and Fides said, warned that registration and supervision rules for foreign aid — including power to deny or refuse renewal when an organization’s work is deemed not in the “national interest” — could give officials broad discretion and could affect churches, mosques, schools, and humanitarian groups that already provide aid in conflict-affected or vulnerable communities. Punch said the bishops argued that non-profit organizations and incorporated trustees, including churches, mosques, other religious bodies, and humanitarian organizations, are already regulated by the Corporate Affairs Commission under the Companies and Allied Matters Act and other laws, and that the bill risked adding bureaucracy and extra government control over independent civic groups. Those are the bishops’ objections, not a court finding.

Punch identified the measure as Senate bill SB.1034, introduced in May 2026. It said the bill had passed first and second readings and been referred for further legislative consideration. It had not been enacted. Punch also noted wider civic opposition, including an August Human Rights Watch request that lawmakers reject the bill. This brief records the CBCN communiqué and the bill’s reported status. It is not a vote.