Rights Group, Media Rights Agenda (MRA), in its latest report noted that the Muhammadu Buhari administration failed to implement the Freedom of Information Act since he assumed power in 2015.
The group recalled that Buhari while campaigning in 2014, promised to fully enforce the Freedom of Information Act so that government-held data sets can be requested and used by the public and pledged that such data sets would be published on regular basis.
In addition, the report said, the political party under whose banner President Buhari ran for office, the All-Progressives Congress (APC), also promised during the campaigns that in states where they have control, the administrations in those states would pass state versions of the FOI law if voted into office, noting that this promise has also not been kept.
Titled “A Promise Unkept: Report on the Implementation of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 under the Buhari Administration”, the report, published in collaboration with the Africa Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) with support from the Canada-based International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), castigated the Government for choosing to allow public institutions to disregard the Act with impunity, without even reprimanding them.
“Most notable among such institutions is the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The NNPC, which is responsible for a substantial portion of Nigeria’s annual revenues, is under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and, therefore, under the direct supervision of President Buhari, who appointed himself and has served as Minister of Petroleum Resources since he took office as President in 2015. But he has apparently chosen to allow the NNPC to disregard the FOI Act with impunity, without so much as a reprimand,” the report stated.
It pointed out that in the 10 years since the FOI Act has been in existence, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, who signed it into Law, was president for just four years while President Muhammadu Buhari has held the mantle for over six years so far.
Specifically, the report identified an entrenched culture of secrecy that still shrouds information about government activities as a major challenge confronting and frustrating the implementation of the Act, saying “This culture of secrecy not only alienates citizens from their government, it also undermines democratic values such as transparency, accountability and public participation.”
Noting that various stakeholders have different roles to play in ensuring the effective implementation of the FOI Act, it proposed various measures for improving implementation of the Act, including recommending that the National Assembly and the Executive, should amend or repeal laws and policies that are at variance with or hamper its effective implementation, particularly the Official Secrets Act, which public officials still cite to deny access to information.
The report called on the relevant committees of both chambers of the National Assembly to live up to their responsibilities of making enforcement of the Act effective by giving directions for its implementation and actively working with the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation while the National Assembly as a whole should ensure that necessary budgetary allocations are made for its effective implementation.
It urged the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to strengthen the implementation of the Act by instructing all public institutions, possibly through a memo issued by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, to ensure the effective implementation of the Act and making it clear that its provisions take precedence where there is a conflict between it and the provisions of other instruments such as the Official Secrets Act, the Penal Code, the Criminal Code, and any other law that is not part of the constitution or does not have constitutional flavour.