By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
A Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof Ayo Atsenuwa has called for the training of Directors of government institutions to acquaint them with the knowledge of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.
Atsenuwa made the call in her presentation at a public hearing in Lagos on ‘Building the Capacity of Citizens on the use of the FOI Act as a Tool for Promoting Transparency and Accountability in the Education Sector in Nigeria’, organised by a human rights and advocacy organisation, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in conjunction with Omidyar Network.
During the presentation, the Law Professor cited Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) which recognises the right to freedom of expression, adding that the FOI Act was enacted by the government in furtherance of that Section of the Constitution.
“No public official has a right to argue against the FOI Act, there should be a training for directors in government institutions and a debriefing.
“A debriefing is necessary because most of them were brought up on a diet of official secrets.
“Now any person can request for information under the FOI Act, such application for information can be written or oral.
“There is now a paradigm shift, those who want to keep information must now show cause why they wanted to withhold information,” she said.
Atesenuwa said that the FOI Act is predicated on the availability of timely access to accurate non-prejudicial information from authentic sources which is critical to citizen participation in governance.
She posited that government has a duty to ensure press freedom and assure the citizenry of access to information held by government officials and institutions.
She however noted that there are in some cases in which information may be refused, such as if it will be injurious, affect public interest or interfere with law enforcement proceedings.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Executive Director of SERAP, Mr Adetokunbo Mumuni, explained that the aim of the public hearing was to bring together citizens who are affected by the poor delivery of public services particularly in the education sector in Nigeria.
“The public hearing also aims to encourage and sensitize the citizens on how they can deploy the FOI Act as a tool for promoting transparency and accountability in the education sector.
“It is also to encourage them to participate in the fight against corruption in the sector.
“The complaints received at the public hearing as well as the conclusions and recommendations will be sent to anti-corruption agencies and other appropriate agencies and authorities,” Mumuni said.
