IPC seeks review of sanctions for FOI violations

The International Press Centre (IPC) has called for a review of the sanctions regime for Freedom of Information (FOI) Act violations by public officials.

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Lanre Arogundade, the Executive Director of the IPC, made the call on Monday in Abuja in his opening remarks at the opening of a two-day Stakeholders’ Technical Meeting on FOI Amendment Bill and Upgrade of Reporting and Compliance Mechanism.

The event is organised by the IPC, lead partner, Component four (Support to Media) of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria, Phase II (EU-SDGN II) programme in collaboration with PLAC and YIAGA Africa.

Mr Arogundade said this was in view of the deliberate non-disclosure of information and public records by public officials.

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According to him, there is a need to revisit the regime of sanctions in the Act over a range of infringements by public officials dealing with deliberate non-disclosure of information and public records.

He noted that it may seem odd that 14 years after the Act was signed into law, the question of amending the FOI Act has been thrown up.

“But I dare say that it is a reality we have to contend with for a number of reasons.

“First is that the right of access to information remains sacrosanct, being universally acknowledged as the oxygen of democracy. In this light, we should not shy away from measures, policies, and legislative reforms that can uphold that right,” he said.

He said this was especially as political office holders would rather withhold information than make it easily available, since they are usually more driven by personal interest instead of the public interest.

“The second reason is that there is the imperative of overhauling the prevailing reporting and compliance standards to make them more effective.

“The current reality is that a number of ministries, departments, and agencies of government often escape public scrutiny because their details are not usually reflected in the annual report normally submitted by the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to the National Assembly, pursuant to the oversight powers imposed on the ministry by section 29 of the FOI Act.

“There is also a need to see if there can be fresh provisions in the Act that will enable ministries, departments, and agencies of government to have adequate resources through budgeting for their obligations, including but not limited to capacity building, as made mandatory by section 13 of the Freedom of Information Act,” Mr Arogundade said.

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The IPC executive director added that the Supreme Court had now heard that the FOI Act applies to all levels of government and therefore need not be domesticated.

According to him, it is misnomer for the state government to say they were domesticating the FOI Act, which is actually a domestic law.

“I think you only domesticate international laws or conventions.”

(NAN)