Editors task govt on FOIA
The statement was signed by the NGE’s President, Mustapha Isah, and the General Secretary, Iyobosa Uwugiaren.
The NGE expressed sadness that many federal government agencies and ministries were falling short of expectations concerning the implementation of the legislation.
Identifying the significance of access to information, the 74th UN General Assembly had proclaimed Sept. 28 as the International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI) at the UN level in October 2019.
The day had been proclaimed by the UNESCO General Conference in 2015, following the adoption of the 38 C/Resolution 57 declaring Sept. 28 of every year as International Day for Universal Access to Information.
The theme of the 2021 International Day for Universal Access to Information is “The Right to Know – Building Back Better with Access to Information”.
It is to highlight the role of access to information laws and their implementation in order to ‘’build back strong institutions’’ for the public good and sustainable development.
It is also to strengthen the right to information and international cooperation in the field of implementing this human right.
The NGE said that though the FOIA was signed into law 10 years ago by former President Goodluck Jonathan, there were still contentious issues over its implementation.
‘’Many citizens and institutions that have sought public information from public offices, in line with the law, without any positive response, have openly protested about their difficulties.
“Many citizens and institutions have also expressed concerns over the issues surrounding the effective implementation of the law,” it said.
The Guild called for better access to information and cited the National Assembly as one body that could do better in terms of implementation of the Act.
It said it could do so by granting more access to information when required by citizens, media houses and members of the civil society organisations.
It scored the National Assembly low for failing to submit an annual report on its implementation of the Act – even for one year, in line with the provisions of the Act.
‘’The National Assembly has not taken its responsibilities as provided for under the Act, more earnestly and has failed to work towards compliance with the Act, including reporting on its implementation.”
The Guild also said administration of Oath of Secrecy on public servants had become a strong factor against the implementation of FOI Act.
It advised federal government agencies and ministries to take their obligations regarding FOIA seriously.
According to the editors, over 120 countries, including Nigeria, now have the laws that give unfettered access to information,
With this, the body said the conversations over the legislations globally suggest that attention is now shifting from passing the laws to effective and successful implementation.
The editors suggested ways to enhance the implementation of the Act.
The Guild advised citizens, civil society groups, journalists and other media organisations that lobbied for the passage of the law to continue to monitor and test the system.
It urged them to put more pressure on government agencies and institutions to comply with the provisions of the FOIA.
The body also said that the office of Attorney-General of the Federation/Minister of Justice was entrusted with oversight the Act.
It said that the office had huge responsibilities in ensuring effective implementation of the FOI Act.
‘’The office needs to step up its game, building capacity for senior government officials, especially the FOI Desk officers of public institutions; and stop providing legal services to agencies dragged to courts for refusing to comply with the provisions of the Act’’.
The professional organisation called for sanctions for bad behaviour by government agencies in order to make public institutions and officials to act in accordance with their obligations under the FOI Act, particularly the proactive publication obligations and the responsibility to submit annual implementation reports.
