Non-compliance with FOI Act
Widespread non-compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2011 was again brought to the fore last week when a report released by a Civil Society Organisation stated that “ministries, departments and agencies are not implementing the provisions of the Act.” The report, which was released to mark the first Universal Access to Information Day, said the National Assembly which passed the law five years ago has never complied with its provisions.
FOI Act requires public institutions to proactively disclose certain information, including how many staff they have, their salaries, grade levels and many more. However, ýthe report found that this provision of the Act was not being complied with. The report assessed compliance by public institutions in Nigeria with two key provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, namely Section 2(3 &4) relating to the provision on Proactive Disclosure, and Section 29 (1,2 &3) obligating an FOI Annual Submission to the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF.ý
ýthe association’s National Co-ordinator Eneý Nwankpa said “44 public institutions who submitted FOI annual reports in 2016 represent just a fraction of over 800 public institutions in existence.” She said ýan assessment of the websites ýof 43 out of the 44 public institutions that submitted FOI annual ýreports to the Attorney General’s office in 2016 indicates a below average compliance mark with the proactive disclosure provisions. “The Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) is the only institution with a dedicated FOI portal for receiving and responding to electronic FOI requests and publishing information... Even ýthe National Assembly that enacted the FOI Act in 2011 has till date never submitted an FOI annual report to the AGF,” Mrs. Nwankpa said.
It would be recalled that it took painstaking efforts and several years of deliberations to get the bill passed into law. It is therefore very unfortunate that five years after its passage, the Act is yet to be fully implemented. It is not enough to pass the bill into law; it must be seen to be carrying out the duties for which it was made or the entire purpose would have been defeated. It is sad that till date activities of government have remained shrouded in secrecy, an issue the law was supposed to address. The law was aimed at enabling the public to access certain government information in order to ensure transparency and accountability. But that is not the case today. The difficulty in accessing information from government officials by members of the public, especially journalists cannot be overemphasised. The total disregard for the law can be seen in the way government officials toss people around whenever they seek certain information.
That should not be the case as FOI, like any other law made by the National Assembly and assented to by the president must be implemented to the letter and anything short of total compliance with its provisions amounts to a violation which should attract sanction. It is a big indictment on the National Assembly that even after making the law, it is not complying with it. How then can it carry out its oversight function and sanction erring agencies, ministries and departments? The National Assembly should lead by example by complying with the law and ensure that others do same.
The culture of secrecy with which government carries out its activities must be discarded. Technology has made it easy for information to be accessed and we urge government at all levels to make use of it to provide necessary information, as that is the only way through they can be held accountable in the event of misappropriation of public funds or failure to deliver public services. We also urge the Buhari Administration, which has pledged to do things differently, to ensure full implementation of the Act. It should ensure that all its activities are made available to the public as provided for by the FOI Act. Such will not only engender transparency but will greatly help in its on-going fight against corruption.