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FOI - Your
Right To Know (Image source: change.org)
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Public institutions in
Nigeria have remained unresponsive to Freedom of Information requests, separate
assessments by two organizations have shown. The FOI Act, signed into law in 2011 by
then President Goodluck Jonathan, was enacted to allow access to public
records and information.
But
institutions have continued to ignore the provisions of the law.
In
an assessment by Right to Know released on Monday, all 39 government
institutions assessed failed to comply with proactive disclosure – records made
available without requests, a statutory obligation under the FOI Act.
PREMIUM TIMES report continues:
No
Nigerian institution obtained “even a 20 percent compliance rating,” according
to the survey which was carried out between February and December 2014.
The
public institutions accessed are those that had made their statutory obligation
of submitting their annual FOI compliance reports to the Office of the
Attorney General in 2012 and 2013.
The
survey noted that the average standard of disclosure was limited to basic
information about their structure and general functions.
In
addition, the assessment stated, statutorily recommended methods for disclosure
were under-utilized, websites cumbersome to navigate and with dated
information.
None
of the websites had a designated FOI portal or schedule for easy access to
information.
“It
is very disappointing that four years after the passage of the Freedom of
Information Act, public institutions remain oblivious to and uninterested in
FOI implementation,” said Ene Nwankpa, National Coordinator, Right to Know.
“There
is no excuse – the basic infrastructure, tools and manpower for information
dissemination are in place. MDAs for the most part have websites, IT
departments and resources for information technology, and for the various
methods of disclosure.
“There
is no reason why in over the course of 11 months of the survey, negligible
efforts were made in this regard.”
The
assessment further noted that, despite a legal obligation to comply, most
government institutions did not have functioning FOI units or desk officers,
nor were staff adequately trained to comply with the provisions of the Act.
Also
on Monday, the Public and Private Development Centre released their 2015 FOI
Compliance Rankings of 116 public institutions as well as 14 Security Sector
Organizations.
None
of the institutions assessed proactively disclosed information.
Out
of the 116 public institutions, only ten – including the Nigerian Export
Promotion Council, Veterinary Council of Nigeria, Consumer Protection Council,
Federal Character Commission, and National Insurance Commission – responded to
an FOI request for information within seven days.
The Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, Bureau of Public Service Reforms, National Library of
Nigeria, and Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria responded to FOI requests
with two weeks, the survey noted.
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