Freedom of Information Bill

THISDAY Editorial, The Sunday Newspaper, September 24, 2006.

It is a rare irony that two full years after the House of Representatives passed the Freedom of Information Bill (FOIB), the senate is yet to do so.  In the circumstance, the question has become inevitable as to whether the senate intentionally wants to kill the bill that is critical not only to the ongoing fight against corruption but also to the sustenance of democracy itself.  The senate attitude is baffling.

When three members of the former House of Representatives – Nduka Irabor, Tony Anyanwu and Jerry Ugokwe – sponsored the bill early in the Fourth Republic, it generated enthusiasm and hope for a future of good governance in Nigeria.  However, after the passage by the House and two readings at the Senate, the Bill got stuck.  Inspite of the unrelenting appeals by numerous pressure groups, the situation has not changed.  That is why the pronouncement made the other day by the senate spokesman, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba that “the report is virtually ready.. we are just doing little editing here and there” isn’t re-assuring at all.  The only way the senators can assure Nigerians that they are deliberately not trying to kill the bill should be to pass it now.

To be truthful, Senate President, Ken Nnamani has shown an understanding of the issues the bill is meant to address.  In his address to a conference of Nigerian editors in Yenagoa two weeks ago, he said:  “In any free society, the mass media is accepted as a major avenue for communication and the dissemination of information and ideas… The media occupies a strategic position in influencing the course of events in any society, in shaping the choices that the citizens make.  This is because, as the custodians of information, media practitioners decide the extent to which you can influence the direction of society… thus, from whatever perspective one looks at (it), the media is a major agent of nation building.”

Well spoken.  But the media are as effective as their access to information, which in the case of Nigeria is a nightmare.  The main reason why governments are invariably bad in Nigeria is that they operate by stealth and secrecy.  While such practice may be understandable in an alien colonial government, it can hardly be justified by a government of independent Nigerians freely elected by them.  If nothing else, the monumental corruption in high public places in the country more than justifies a freedom of information act here.  To that extent the apparent reluctance of the senate to pass the bill is a direct blow to the capacity of the media to hasten a regime of good governance in Nigeria, the key step to national development.

Yet, it is not the media alone that would benefit.  Other Nigerians will equally have access to what their leaders are up to in public office.  In fact, even the mere existence of the law is enough to discourage wrongdoing in public office.  For an administration whose cardinal slogans are due process, transparency and accountability, the reluctance of the senate to make the law aimed at promoting those administrative virtues is embarrassing and contradictory.  There is no doubt that if passed, the FOIB will promote the cause of democracy, reduce dubious acts and assist the drive for transparency in public places.

We therefore call on senators to put their votes where their mouth is, that is, to pass the bill in the few months remaining in the tenure of this National Assembly.