By Praise Chinecherem
Centre For Transparency Advocacy (CTA), a civil society group advocating for good governance, transparency, and accountability in Nigeria, has highlighted the fundamental importance of the right to access information, especially in this democratic dispensation.
The group believes the Freedom of Information Act, has not been adequately implemented in the country, resulting in gross corruption, high-handedness and maladministration in government and public circles.
The Executive Director of the CTA, Ms Faith Nwadishi made the position known in a statement on Tuesday, to mark Nigeria’s 64th Independence Day celebration.
The passage of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 2011 by Nigerian government under the administration of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was conceived to be a critical step in empowering citizens and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to hold government agencies accountable, promoting transparency, and ensuring an informed populace.
Nwadishi said in keeping with its mandate of supporting Nigerian-led efforts that strengthen accountability, transparency, participation and good governance by extending the reach of information to ordinary Nigerian citizens, CTA had tested the efficacy of the FOIA in many instances.
She also recalled how the CTA wrote to the then NNPC, on 17th March, 2021 requesting a copy of the DSDP contracts which involves the direct sale of crude oil by the NNPCL to refiners and the purchase of refined petroleum products in return, due to their commitment to OGP Nigeria NAP11 for contract transparency.
She said they again in 2024, wrote to NNPCL using the FOI to request information on subsidy savings and the NNPCL responded through the same private solicitor.
According to her, the engagement with the NNPCL yielded no result as the corporation prefers to explore legal technicalities to the effect that NNPCL is now a limited liability company and therefore excluded from the application of the FOI Act.
Nwadishi regretted that as Nigeria clocks 64, the implementation of FOIA, is still being met with significant hurdles, with many government agencies and departments still resistant to giving effect to the clear provisions of the Act.
“A recent example is CTA’s requests for information from agencies such as the Federal Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Petroleum, Central Bank of Nigeria, the Accountant General’s Office, and others concerning vital issues like the savings from the removal of fuel subsidies were met with a cycle of referrals.
“Each agency camouflaging under section 5 of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 held the the view that another public institution has greater interest in the information and therefore, directed us from pillar to post ultimately making mockery of the Act.
“Additionally, institutions like the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TetFund) in an apparent disposition not to avail CTA the information and records requested, unilaterally transformed itself into a revenue collecting body in demanding for an outrageous sum of N1,200,000.00 only as a condition precedent to making the requested information and documents available curiously citing section 8 of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011.
“CTA is not unmindful that access to records and documents under the Act is not free and fees may be charged.
“However, the Act provides that the fees that can be charged are limited to standard charges for the duplication of documents and for transcription, where necessary.
CTA was neither requesting for duplication nor transcription of any document but a list of disbursed funds to various public tertiary educational institutions covering 2020 to 2023 fiscal year and reports of the monitoring and evaluation of the execution of the projects yet TETFUND came up with such a bizarre assessment and charges as cost for accessing information in a clear violation of the spirit of FOIA, which is meant to facilitate, not hinder, access to public information,” Nwadishi said.
The CTA boss however commended the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation for its commitment to ensuring compliance by following up with ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) that refuse to respond to information requests.
She called on all public institutions to respect the principles of transparency and accountability by providing the public with timely and accurate information.
Nwadishi said; “The supply side of transparency is key to fulfilling the demand for accountability which is the kind of government envisaged by our heroes past.
“We urge government Ministries, Departments and Agencies at National and State levels to comply with the FOIA and embrace openness, which is vital for a thriving democracy like ours.
“Together, let us reaffirm our commitment to upholding the ideals of access to information for a more transparent, accountable and developed Nigeria.”
