Public Collections Regulation Law

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS REGULATION LAW

1. Citation. This Law may be cited as the Public Collections Regulation Law.

2. Interpretation. (1) In this Law- "collector" means a person duly authorised, pursuant to the provisions of section 9 to assist in making a public collection within the meaning of this Law; "promoter" means a person duly registered, pursuant to the provisions of section 7 as the promoter of a public collection within the meaning of this Law. (2) For the purposes of sections 3, 4 and 9, the word "appeal" means a request or invitation however conveyed, whether by actions, in words, pictorially or in writing whether made in public, through the press, or conversation, by house to house visiting or through the post.

3. Public appeals for donations in money or in kind restricted. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Law, it shall not be lawful to make any appeal to the public or any part or class thereof for donations in money or in kind for any object whatsoever (hereinafter referred to as a public collection) save where registration of such public collection has been effected in accordance with the provisions of section 7. (2) A payment of money in exchange for a token or any article of token value only or for any article or benefit the value whereof is substantially less than the value of such payment shall be deemed to be a donation for the purposes of this section. (3) In any case where an appeal for donations to be applied to a particular object is made to two or more members of the public, the burden of proving, in any criminal or civil proceedings taken in relation to such appeal, that it was not an appeal to the public within the meaning of this section shall be upon the defendant in such proceedings.

4. Application to collections begun before the commencement of this Law. An appeal for donations made before the commencement of this Law which would, if made after the commencement of this Law, be subject to the provisions of this Law shall, if donations continue to be solicited or made after the commencement of this Law, be deemed to be a public collection to which the provisions of this Law apply.

5. Exemptions. This Law shall not apply to- (a) any collection made at divine service in a place of public worship for a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purpose; (b) requests made by or on behalf of the committee of any club/association or trade union to members of such club, association or union for a renewal of regular subscriptions; (c) collections of a purely parochial character made in good faith for the benefit of a local church, school, sports club or charity, or a project in the interest of local welfare; (d) collection made in good faith among a limited class of persons for the purpose of making a presentation to any person or any special occasion; or (e) any person or class of persons exempted by order of the Executive Council, but only in relation to a collection for an object specified in such order.

6. Registration for public collection promotion. (1) Any person who desires to promote a public collection shall make application for registration in the prescribed form to the registration authority and such application shall, in addition to such other particulars as may be prescribed, contain a full and accurate statement of the objects to which the proceeds of the collection are to be applied (hereinafter referred to as the stated objects). (2) The registration authority shall be the person in charge of social welfare. (3) The registration authority may refuse registration, or, where registration has been effected, may revoke it, if it appears to him- (a) that any of the objects are illegal or contrary to public morality; (b) that, the applicant or the promoter is not a fit and proper person to be registered by reason of the fact that he has been convicted in any part of the Commonwealth of any offence, the conviction for which necessarily involved a finding that he acted fraudulently or dishonestly; (c) that, the applicant or the promoter, in promoting a public collection, has failed to exercise due diligence to secure that collectors authorised by him to assist in making the collection were fit and proper persons, to secure compliance on the part of collectors with the provisions of this Law or of any regulations made under this Law, or to prevent certificates of authority being obtained by persons other than duly authorised collectors; or (d) that the applicant or the promoter has been convicted of any offence against the provisions of this Law or of any regulations made under, this Law. (4) If the registration authority refuses registration, or if he revokes registration, he shall forthwith give written notice thereof to the applicant or promoter, stating the grounds upon which registration has been refused or revoked, and informing him of the right of appeal given by this section, and the applicant or promoter may thereupon appeal by petition to the Executive Council against the refusal or revocation of registration, as the case may be, and the decision of the Executive Council shall be final. (5) Such appeal shall be brought within twenty-one days from the date on which notice is given under subsection (4) of this section. (6) If the Executive Council decides that the appeal shall be allowed, the registration authority shall forthwith effect registration or cancel the revocation, as the case may be, in accordance with the decision of the Executive Council.

7. Method, effect and duration of registration. (1) Save where registration is refused under the provisions of section 6, the registration authority shall cause the prescribed particulars (which shall include the stated objects) to be entered in the register, and thereupon it shall be lawful for the promoter to make a public collection for the stated objects within the territory in which registration has been effected. (2) A registration effected under the provisions of this section shall, unless sooner revoked, remain in force, until the 31st day of December in the year in which it is effected, and shall then expire.

8. Power of the registration authority to call for books of account, etc. The registration authority may, by notice in writing, call upon the promoter of a public collection to produce, to the person named and at the time and place specified in the notice, the books of account and all other documents relating to such collection for examination or audit.

9. Collectors. (1) Any promoter may authorise any number of fit and proper persons to assist him in making a public collection for the stated objects. (2) Each collector shall be supplied by the promoter with a certificate of authority which shall specify fully and accurately the stated objects of the collection, and a collector shall produce his certificate of authority on demand to any police officer in uniform or to any person to whom he has made an appeal for a donation.

10. Proceeds of collection deemed to be received for stated objects. (1) The proceeds of any public collection shall, for the purposes of any civil or criminal proceedings whatsoever, be deemed to be received by the promoter and collectors for the purpose of applying the same to the stated objects: Provided that where a reasonable portion of the proceeds of any public collection is applied to the expenses of administration of such public collection, it shall be deemed to have been applied to the stated objects. (2) For the purposes of the proviso to subsection (1), the determination of what is a reasonable proportion shall be a question of fact in each case.

11. Offences and penalties. Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this Law or of any regulation made under this Law, or fails to comply with any of the terms of a notice given pursuant to the provisions of section 8, or who makes an application for registration under section 6 of this Law knowing same to be false in any material particular, shall be liable, upon summary conviction, for a first offence, to a fine of ten thousand naira or to six months’ imprisonment or to both such fine and imprisonment and, for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine of twenty thousand naira or to twelve months' imprisonment or to both such fine and imprisonment.

12. Legal proceedings. No prosecution for an offence against this Law shall be instituted except by, or with the written consent of the Attorney-General.

13. Power to make regulations. The Executive Council may make regulations- (a) prescribing the form of application for registration under the provisions of this Law and the particulars to be contained therein; (b) prescribing the form of registers to be kept for the purposes of this Law and the particulars required to be entered therein; (c) providing for the keeping of proper books of account in relation to public collections and for the audit of same; (d) requiring copies of the audited accounts of public collections to be furnished to the registration authority, and requiring such accounts to be published by the promoter in such manner as may be prescribed; (e) requiring information with respect to the expenses, proceeds and application of the proceeds of public collections to be furnished to the registration authority and requiring the information so furnished to be vouched and authenticated in such manner as may be prescribed; (f) providing for the use of authorised receipts in connection with public collections; (g) providing, in relation to public collections made in the street or by visits from house to house, for the use of sealed tins for the purpose of collecting contributions in money and for the opening of same and for the counting and recording of the contents thereof; and (h) generally for carrying into effect the provisions of this Law.