The Lagos State Government on Wednesday said it would soon enact a separate Freedom of Information (FOI) law to be enforced in the state.
Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola,Governor, Lagos State.
Mr Lawal Pedro (SAN), the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, announced this while speaking at a workshop on FOI in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop had the theme: “The Role of Lawyers and Judges in the Implementation of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act”.
The workshop was organised by a rights advocacy group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), in collaboration with the MacArthur Foundation, Abuja.
Pedro said the FOI Act, established by the National Assembly, was not domesticated by the Lagos State Government because of some factors.
“The provisions of the current FOI Act applies only to public institutions and not private establishments, this is an unfair omission.
“The Lagos State Government has decided to enact its own FOI law and the bill for the law is currently before the Lagos State House of Assembly.
“The Lagos State FOI law will, however, cover both public and private establishments,” he said.
The guest speaker, Justice Chima Nweze of the Court of Appeal, Calabar Division, said the FOI Act, as enacted by the National Assembly, should be adopted by all states of the federation.
“The FOI Act should apply to both federal and state governments since it is enacted by the National Assembly with Lagos not being an exception,” Nweze said.
Mr Monday Ubani, the outgoing Chairman of Ikeja Branch of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), said the judiciary should make public officials accountable to the people.
“The judiciary should be proactive in ensuring that government officials disclose information to the public in line with the provisions of the FOI Act.”
Mr Adetokunbo Mumuni, Executive Director, SERAP, said there was low level of awareness by the public about the provisions of the FOI Act.
“In our engagement with the FOI Act, we have discovered that the awareness about the Act is still very limited”.
He said that the lack of awareness was not limited to members of the public in general, but even among lawyers and Judges.
