Nigerians not effectively using FOI Act – Dogara

  Group mulls five-year implementation plan

By Joshua Egbodo
Abuja

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara has expressed regrets that Nigerians have not taken advantage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act since it was passed into law four years ago.
The Speaker, who made the assertion when he received the head of African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, Mrs. Tlakula Pansy, and the director general of Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Prof. Adedeji Adekunle, at the weekend, also said establishment of a television and radio stations for the National Assembly was underway.
A statement by Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs to the Speaker, Turaki Hassan, quoted Dogara as saying that the responsibility of creating awareness on laws passed by the parliament lies with governments, civil societies and citizens alike, even as he decried the fact that Nigerians are not fully engaged to studying their laws, calling for advocacy that would enable the people to know and be able to enforce their rights.

While promising that the House Committee on human rights would work closely with such bodies to ensure that all areas not covered in the existing laws are addressed, the Speaker pointed out that Nigeria was addressing the concern by the international community on the human rights of those caught in conflict in the North East; specifically their right to life which he should not be sacrificed on the altar human rights.

“In democracy, even freedom has to be constrained to ensure they do not hinder the freedom of others,” he stated, adding that the National Assembly was working on establishing its own Television and Radio stations dedicated to the working of the legislature, since the public media had appeared too restrictive and expensive for the parliament.
Mrs. Pansy on her part said they were on the visit to further push for the freedom of expression and rights of human beings the world. “There has to be paradigm shift from the culture of secrecy in governance to one of truth and openness because it is the public trust and information held by government for the people, as well as to ensure that public Institutions comply with the FOI,” she said.

Meanwhile, the board of governors of the Freedom of Information Coalition in Nigeria, (FOICN) has developed a five-year strategic plan on the implementation of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.
In a communiqué issued at the end of a three-day strategy meeting sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP), Democratic Governance for Development (DGD) II Project, the FOICN board expressed concern over the poor level of awareness by the public about the existence of the FOI Act and their rights to information under the law.

It also expressed concern about the low level of awareness among public institutions and officials on their duties under the Act to provide information to the public as well as the low level of compliance by public institutions to their proactive disclosure and obligations under Section 2 of the Act.
The meeting further expressed concern that despite the relatively few number of requests for information being made by members of the public, most public institutions had been unresponsive, opting instead to withhold such information without legitimate or justifiable reasons.