>>>>>>>> The Editorials Today >>>>>>>> TOPIC: Freedom of Information law must work NEWSPAPER:The Punch Newspaper IT has become obvious that agencies of government have made the Freedom of Information Act inoperative with their flagrant denial of Nigerians the right to obtain information based on its provisions. Non-Governmental Organisations, lawyers, academic researchers and the mass media have tried their luck without success. Enacted two years ago, it was one piece of legislation for which the parliament and President Goodluck Jonathan indulged in self-adulation for making it see the light of day because of its tortuous history. It incubated in the parliament for 11 years due to filibustering and subterfuge against it. But the law must be made to work for the good of the society. This is already a resolve of some Nigerians; among them is Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. As a sequel to the N255 million BMW bulletproof cars scandal in which the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, is entangled, Falana wrote to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, demanding the release of “all the documents relating to the purchase of the cars, including budgetary approval and due process for the entire transaction.” Before this, he had made a similar demand in respect of fuel levies collected by the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency since 2007. FERMA’s amended Act provides for five per cent charge on pump price per litre of petrol and diesel, out of which 40 per cent will accrue to it; while 60 per cent goes to the states for a similar purpose. It is not yet Uhuru for Falana. Instructively, the FOI Act 2011 mandatorily requires in Section 4, from a public institution to which an application is made, to respond “within seven days after the application is received, and – (a) make the information available to the applicant,” or in the case of denying the applicant the information, state reasons for doing so, based on the Act. Unfortunately, Falana’s frustration is shared by Legal Defence and Assistance Project, an NGO that has been trying to unfold details of salaries and emoluments of National Assembly members, said to be one of the highest in the world, and Daily Trust, an Abuja-based national daily, seeking information from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, on its 2012 recruitment, among others. The motive in all of this is to open up governance and entrench accountability and transparency in our system. This has become an article of faith in civilised parts of the world and in major democracies; and it explains why many countries have embraced the FOI law. It bears repeating that transparency holds the key to the survival of democracy and good governance in Nigeria. Regrettably, it rankles that our public officials and bureaucrats have not got the message yet. They are still devotees of the Official Secrets Act, a colonial shibboleth, which died a natural death with the FOI law enactment. One government agency unabashedly told an applicant for information that it was not bound by the provisions of the Act, while the very parliament that enacted it has appealed the judgement of a Federal High Court, Abuja, which ordered the Clerk of the National Assembly to release to LEDAP, details of lawmakers’ pay, in tandem with the spirit of the law. The President should be deeply concerned about observance of the FOI law in the breach, by government agencies. Plainly put, it speaks ill of his administration, which is frequently buffeted by critics for not doing enough in the fight against graft. The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, should not feel differently either. Shortly after the law was enacted, he issued a circular directing Ministries, Agencies and Departments to establish FOI units, with officers not below the rank of assistant directors to be appointed as heads. But what is on the ground suggests his directive has not been taken seriously. As the chief law officer of the federation, conscious of what his office stands for, Adoke should be indignant at this turn of events and compel the adamant MDAs to respect the law of the land. Otherwise, government agencies’ brazen disregard for the FOI law could be interpreted as an official policy or acquiescence of the Presidency to disorder and secrecy in governance. Corruption, the bane of many a regime, is steeped in such canvas. Lamentably, the mass media, which displayed a Trojan spirit in the campaign for the enactment of the FOI law, have not been as dogged in ensuring its enforcement. This anti-climax should be reversed. A disappointed Biodun Jeyifo, a Harvard University professor, inveighed against the media in a recent lecture on FOI Act implementation for being “remarkably reticent” about compelling “our leaders to comply with the dictates of the FOI (Act).” But expanding the frontiers of freedom is the responsibility of all. This is how it works in societies that have made progress. In the United States of America, for instance, it took the seemingly “enough is enough” charge of the black woman, Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama State, in 1955, to end such segregation and thus reinvigorated the modern Civil Rights Movement. Therefore, we urge individuals and NGOs in court in pursuit of FOI Act enforcement not to despair. Indeed, it is a battle worth fighting for by all! (c) The Punch Nigeria 12/11/2013
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 09:05:04 +0000
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