News of Developments in Freedom of Informatioon around the World

The House of Representatives again, stepped down the Freedom of Information Bill on Thursday, failing to keep an earlier promise to discuss it. Details .....

Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu has said the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill will be passed before the end of the year. Speaking at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum in Abuja, Ekweremadu said the Senate had no problem with the bill. Details .....

The continued delay in the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill by the National Assembly has continued to attract mixed reactions from stakeholders. In separate interviews in Abuja, a cross section of the stakeholders gave knocks to the lawmakers for the delay in the passage of the bill. Details ....

The leadership of the House of Representatives has given assurance that the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill is not dead and that it will be passed because of its capacity to engender good governance and strengthen democratic culture in Nigeria. Details .....

The Executive Chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri, says the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill currently on the legislative table of the National Assembly will enhance the fight against corruption and other forms of economic crimes in Nigeria when eventually passed into law. Details .....

Coalition Urges Senate to Jettison Recommendations on FOI Bill

The Freedom of Information Coalition (FOIC) has written to the Senate Committee on Information and Media saying its recommendations on the FOI Bill, which it is proposing for enactment as FOI law, fundamentally defeat the purpose for which the law is needed: openness, transparency and accountability. The group therefore urged the Committee to expunge the recommendations from the bill. Read the full letter here

The report of the Senate Media and Information Committee on the Freedom of Information Bill, which is currently pending before both Chambers of the National Assembly portends an ill wind for the Bill if the recommendations are accepted by the Senate during the third reading of the Bill. Details .....

The Senate Media and Information Committee on the Freedom of Information Bill has whittled down some of the provisions of the Freedom of Information Bill in a way that would make it ineffective if it is passed into law with the Committee's recommendations. Details ....

“A freedom of Information legislation is the breath of fresh air needed to clear the putrefied atmosphere of corruption that pervades all facets of life in Nigeria”. This was the submission of Prof. Oyelowo Oyewo, a professor of Law at the University of Lagos, in a paper he delivered at the fourth AELEX Annual Lecture held on July 24, 2008 at the Agip Recital Hall, Muson Centre in Lagos. At the end of the lecture, participants generally agreed that Nigeria needs a Freedom of information Law to help combat the endemic corruption that has become the bane of Nigeria. Details .....

Nigeria’s lower legislative chamber, the House of Representatives on June 3, 2008 refused to take the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill at the Committee of the Whole (Third Reading). This came barely 24 hours after the upper chambers, the Senate, held a Public Hearing on the Bill. Details .....

Advocates and stakeholders in the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill have unanimously called on the Senate to pass the Bill as it will help combat Nigeria’s endemic corruption and allow citizens to meaningfully engage all tiers of government on modules of governance. Details .....