The FOI bill

By Editorial Board, The Punch: Monday, 20 November 2006

More than two years after the House of Representatives passed the Freedom of Information bill, the Senate, last Wednesday, passed the bill that has been before the National Assembly since 1999. The bill, sponsored by a group of civil society organisations, seeks public access to information of public interest as well as the protection of personal privacy. It provides for the protection of serving public officers from punishment for disclosing official information without authorisation and stipulates the processes for obtaining public sector information.

Many laws exist, that restrict public access to official information. They include the official Secrets Act, Federal Commissions (Privileges and Immunities) Act, Evidence Act, and the Statistics Act, to mention but a few. Even when the FOI bill becomes law, reports said information on such areas as defense, international affairs, law enforcement investigations, trade secrets, technical and scientific information of economic value, personal information, third party information, etc., may still be restricted. But by and large, the passage of the FOI bill promises a severe blow on the face of official secrecy, which many believe has made corruption to grow in leaps and bounds over the years.

When signed to law, Nigerians can approach any government establishment and request for information on the activities of any arm or agency of government without any explanation on why they seek the information. Though there are provisions in the bill that permit a public official to decline releasing certain information, such official can only withhold such information based on concrete reason. If not satisfied with the reason for which the information is withheld, the official can be dragged to court and if convicted, risks a three-year jail term. Reports said the bill is waiting for harmonisation by the Joint Committee of the National Assembly before being sent to the President for his assent. Presidential assent to the bill is expected within 30 days. The ball is now in the courts of the Joint Committee of the National Assembly and President Olusegun Obasanjo.

On assuming office in 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo fingered corruption as Nigeria’s greatest problem. He promised that all rules and regulations meant to bring about honesty and transparency in government would be restored and enforced. The civil society, on its part, felt that fighting the corruption monster required a frontal attack on the secret conduct of government affairs. The result was the draft of the FOI.

Virtually all public information in the country is considered as “classified.” Government agencies hide information from one another, using official secrecy laws as a veil. Worse hit are journalists and civil society organisations that are routinely denied access to official information of public interest. It is worse when officials are implicated in corrupt acts.

The passage of the FOI bill is a victory for all patriotic Nigerians craving for transparency and accountability in governance. The law would not serve the interests of journalists and civil society groups alone. It is a piece of legislation every citizen should rely upon in holding government and the bureaucracy at all levels accountable to the people.

Corruption has largely been blamed for the over $400 billion which successive governments squandered in the country in the past four decades, without improving the economy, living standards and public infrastructure. The expected FOI law may, however, not make the desired impact if such laws as cited above, that restrict access to public information, are still in place, and if the National Assembly fails to enact the enabling law that can make the asset declaration forms of public officers accessible to the public. In addition, the FOI law will be impotent if Nigerians are cowardly by not insisting on their rights to know.

President Obasanjo’s quick assent to the bill would go a long way in demonstrating his belief in fighting corruption and bad governance with the law.