[ 2011-06-03 ]

Nigeria enacts Freedom of Information Law and leaves Ghana in the cold
After 12 years of struggle and lobbying by civil
society groups and the Nigeria Union of
Journalists (NUJ), Freedom of Information Act has
become reality. President Goodluck Jonathan has
signed the FoI Bill into law.

The presidency stated, in a press statement last
night that Jonathan assented to the bill on
Saturday, May 28, a day after it was sent to him
by the outgoing National Assembly. The two
chambers of the National Assembly had passed the
bill last Thursday and sent it to the Presidency
on Friday, May 27, 2011, for the president's
assent.

The president's assent brings to an end the
controversy and mixed reactions the delay in its
passage had attracted from stakeholders.

A statement from the office of the special adviser
to the president on media and publicity, signed by
the deputy director of information, Mr. Justin
Abuah, stated that "the objective of the Act is to
make public records and information more freely
available, and to also protect public records and
information to the extent consistent with the
public interest and the protection of personal
privacy."

"The Freedom of Information Act also seeks to
protect serving public officers from any adverse
consequences of disclosing certain kinds of
official information without authorisation, and to
establish procedures for the achievement of these
purposes," the statement added.

Before the bill was signed by the president,
virtually all government information in Nigeria
had been classified as "top secret", making it
difficult to get information from any state
agency.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had maintained
his ground that he was not going to assent to an
earlier FoI Bill passed by the National Assembly
on the grounds that it would have negative
implication on national security.

The Right to Know initiative, Media Rights Agenda
and Open Society Foundations said yesterday that
the signing of the FoI Bill into law was a
"victory for democracy, transparency, justice and
development".

"With the new law, Nigerians finally have vital
tools to uncover facts, fight corruption and hold
officials and institutions accountable," Ms Ene
Enonche, coordinator of the Right to Know
Initiative, said.

The promoter of the bill said that, under the new
legislation, all institutions spending public
funds would have to be open about their operations
and expenditure while citizens would have the
right to access information about their
activities. It said whistleblowers who report
malfeasance by their employers or organisations
would be protected from reprisals.

"The new law will profoundly change how government
works in Nigeria. Now we can use the oxygen of
information and knowledge to breathe life into
governance. It will no longer be business as
usual", said Maxwell Kadiri, associate legal
officer, Open Society Justice Initiative .

Nigerians have fought a long battle to
institutionalise transparency and accountability
as pillars of governance in the country. The FoI
Bill was first submitted to Nigeria's fourth
National Assembly in 1999 when the country
returned to democracy but it did not make much
progress. It returned to the legislative chambers
in the fifth National Assembly in 2003 and was
passed by both chambers in the first quarter of
2007. However, Obasanjo refused to sign it into
law. It returned to both chambers of the 6th
National Assembly in 2007 and was finally passed
on May 24, 2011.

A broad coalition of Nigerian civil society groups
has long worked and advocated for the passage of
the FoI Bill under the leadership of the Right to
Know Movement, Media Rights Agenda and the Open
Society Justice Initiative in partnership with its
sister organisation, OSIWA.

Edetaen Ojo, executive director, Media Rights
Agenda, said: "The signing of the FoI Bill into
law is the clearest demonstration ever of the
power of civil society working together to
influence public policy and initiate reform. We
are committed to continuing our concerted efforts
to ensure that the new law achieves its ultimate
objective of making government work for the
people."

Coalition partners praised the decision of
President Jonathan to sign the new law and efforts
by legislators to harmonise the bill in time.

"We congratulate the leadership and members of
both chambers of the National Assembly on their
steadfastness and the speed with which the bill
was finalized. Their support for the expeditious
completion of the work of the joint conference
committee of both chambers in the twilight of the
current parliament finally made this dream a
reality," said Dayo Olaide, OSIWA's coordinator of
Nigeria programmes.

The Right to Know Initiative, Media Rights Agenda
and the Open Society Foundations restated their
commitment to collaborate with government
agencies, the private sector and civil society to
ensure democratic consolidation and urged all
agencies of government and non-state actors to
prepare for the effective implementation of
Nigeria's new FoI law.

Similarly, the NUJ said it appreciated the
development which clearly shows that the president
is not only a man of his words, but also a focused
leader who has a vision for this country.

According to the NUJ: "The struggle for this law,
which spanned the greater part of a decade, will
certainly give adequate attention to openness in
governance, remove unnecessary bureaucracy and
encourage the fight against corruption.

"The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) therefore
extends its appreciation to the outgoing National
Assembly members, civil society groups, clerics,
labour leaders, UNESCO and all those whose
relentless efforts made the passage of the bill
and its signing into law a reality.

"We urge all journalists to note that this freedom
goes with responsibility and, therefore, in the
exercise of this freedom, adequate attention and
strict adherence to the ethics of the profession
must be observed. This is the only way the media
can earn the confidence of the people."

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission
yesterday lauded Jonathan for signing the FOIB
into law. Executive secretary of the Commission
Mr. Roland Ewubare said in a statement that though
the bill had gone through a tortuous journey,
having been the longest in the National Assembly,
Jonathan will go down in history as the only
president who had the courage to sign this bill
even as it assumed a controversial nature

According to Ewubare, democracy entails openness,
transparency and accountability and these, he
said, are remarkable features of the FOIB .The
Freedom of Information Act, he added, will provide
sunshine on some activities of government which in
the past were shrouded in mystery.

Source - All Africa.com, Abuja

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