Minister of information and culture Lai Mohammed has re-emphasised his stance on the proliferation of non-governmental organisations in Nigeria, stressing that a lot of them are working against Nigeria’s interests.
He said the Federal Government has information that some NGOs are on the payroll of foreign agents with ulterior motives to destabilise Nigeria.
He gave example of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) which sued the Federal Government when Twitter was suspended.
“There are many NGOs in Nigeria today that are not working for the interests of the people of the nation,” Mohammed said on Saturday on FRCN’s Radio Link show.
“Otherwise, why will SERAP for instance take the Nigerian government to court because it suspended the operations of Twitter, an entity that is a platform of choice for people working to destabilise the country.
“This (Twitter) is an entity that was not registered in Nigeria, did not employ any Nigerian directly and not paying tax in spite of the huge amount of money it is making Nigeria.”
The minister queried the intention of SERAP in filing the suit if not for ulterior motives.
“We understand that in every case being filed by some of these NGOs, they receive subventions from their donors and sponsors and this should worry Nigerians,” he added.
“If you noticed, one of the fastest growing businesses today is the NGO and the country is full of all sorts of NGOs which are being funded for ulterior motives.”
