Nearly five years on, the law is not being fully or effectively implemented. The paper examines nigerias freedom of information act, 2011 on access to information in the context of the entrenched culture of secrecy in the. Extension of time limit for granting or refusing application 7. The limits of freedom of information act by by elijah ogbuokiri, 11 october 2011 36 nathan goba 2012 teaches multimedia journalism as an adjunct instructor for point loma nazarene university and sdsu digital and social collaborative. Seven years after the enactment of the freedom of information act 2011 foia, nigerians seem yet to understand and fully benefit from the purpose of the act.
Evaluative study of the freedom of information act on. Nigeria freedom of information act 2011 and its implication for records and office security management. It is often described as the law that keeps citizens in. Citizens knowledge of public affairs was extremely poor, all because. Freedom of information act foia the freedom of information act is a legal extension of the constitutional provisions on freedom of expression designed partly to give practical expression to that provision. Freedom of information act, 2011 explanatory memorandum this act makes public records and information more freely available, provide for public access. This act makes public records and information more freely available, provide for public access to public records and information, protect public records and information to the extent consistent with the public interest and the protection of personal privacy, protect serving public officers from.
For example, we have the official secrets act, evidence act, the public complaints commission act, the statistics act, and the criminal code. Access to information in nigeria, prior to 2011, was an herculean task. Challenges in the implementation of the freedom of. Prelude to nigerias freedom of information act 2011 the clamour by nigerians for freedom of information to promote transparency and accountability in governance dated back to the period of the british colonial government which was characterized by a dominant culture of secrecy. Nigerian states have no powers to reject requests filed under the freedom of information act foi, the court of appeal has ruled. Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference. It is related to freedom of expression, which can apply to any medium, be it oral, writing, print, electronic, or through art forms. The relevance of nigerias freedom of information act 2011 to the. Freedom of information act 2011 laws of the federation of nigeria arrangement of sections 1. Nigeria adopted a freedom of information law on may 28, 2011 when former president goodluck jonathan signed the foi bill passed by the national assembly into law. We occasionally update these publications, so if you rely on the data for more than simple informational purposes, we recommend that you check back periodically for updates.
Right to access to records the act indicated that every citizen of nigeria is entitled to have access to any records under the control of the government or public institution provided he apply for and. This right to access is limited when such information is protected from disclosure by one of foias nine statutory exemptions. Malgwi2, bulama kagu3 and ibrahim danjuma4 1 department of business management, university of maiduguri nigeria 2 bursary department, university of maiduguri, 3department of education, university of maiduguri, 4faculty of management and human resource. The head of the nigerian civil service, bukar aji, on july 30 recommended that the 2011 freedom of information act be amended to allow 14 days instead of seven to respond to requests. Foi act cnpp sues allisonmadueke right to know nigeria.
How to make a freedom of information request in nigeria. The right to know and the implementation of freedom of. The freedom of information act was enacted a few years ago, to. Governmental organs, social associations, officials, and mass media are obligated to provide every citizen with the opportunity to become acquainted with documents, decisions, and sources of information affecting her or his rights and interests. The freedom of information act foia is a law that gives you the right to access information from the federal government.
Calabar the publicity secretary of the conference of nigerian political parties cnpp, osita okechukwu, has sued the minister of petroleum resources, diezani allison madueke, over her refusal to allow him access to information concerning the transactions involving the nigerian national petroleum corporation nnpc as enjoined by the provisions of the freedom of information foi act, 2011. Pdf an appraisal of the freedom of information act foia in nigeria. Challenges that are confronting the implementation of the act are. The government of the united kingdom has theorised it as being an extension of freedom of speech, and a fundamental human right.
Information act 2011 new headway upper intermediate test booklet pdf foi act into law is a watershed. The purpose of the foia is to make public records and information more freely available to the public and to protect these records and information to the extent consistent with the public. Summary of kazakhstans constitutional guarntees of freedom of information extracted from the constitution. This was after the organization had allowed the waiting time to lapse. Freedom of information is freedom of a person or people to publish and consume information. The limit of information act in freedom of information act 2011 and the fight against corruption and corporate fraud in governance. The nigerian freedom of information bill was along awaited bill which was finally signed into law.
Nigeria foi was enacted in 2011, foi is an act to make public records and information more freely available, provide for public access to public records and information, protect public records and information to the extent consistent with the public interest and the protection of personal privacy, protect serving public officers from adverse consequences of disclosing certain kinds of official. Many journalists were imprisoned for publishing what was classified as confidential state information. Posted below is the central intelligence agencys most popular publication the world factbook in compressed. Pdf this study appraises the freedom of information act in nigeria. Even before the passage and subsequent signing of the freedom of information bill into law, there were strong views that the act was going to facilitate journalism practice in nigeria. So far, only few states in nigeria have adopted the freedom of information act at state level. Pdf nigeria freedom of information act 2011 and its.
The research therefore focused on two states in the southsouth region of nigeria to examine the issues and evaluate the implementation of freedom of information act of 2011. A number of reasons can be deduced for this situation. Nigerian foi law not effectively implemented freedom info. Primacy is granted to the provisions of the freedom of information act. Aji spoke at national conference on the freedom of information act, organized by the right to know initiative, in abuja. The freedom of information act 2011 foi what it means. This means that some mischievous public officers can. Enacted by the national assembly of the federal republic of nigeria 1. The freedom of information act foia 2011 was passed by the national assembly and assented to by president goodluck jonathan gcfr on the 28th may 2011. Nigerian information act, thereby becoming the ninth country in africa and among 90 countries. Freedom of information act, 2011 explanatory memorandum this act makes public records and information more freely available, provide for public access to public records and. United nations universal declaration of human rights. Analysis of nigeria freedom of information act on records.
Freedom of information act foi, foi coalition, nigeria, nigerian press. The act affords everyone regardless of tribe, age, creed, a right of access to information or records held by public institutions and relevant private entities, irrespective of the form in which such information or records are kept. There is no gain saying the fact that the nigeria freedom of information act was proposed in the context of international affirmation of the rights of citizens to access information held by. Freedom of information act and democratic consolidation in. In a march 27 decision at the akure division, the court of appeal. Prospects and challenges preye kuro inokoba department of political science niger delta university, p. However, several challenges have effectively hindered the implementation of these laws. An appraisal of the freedom of information act foia in. International foi laws national freedom of information.
So far, only few states in nigeria have adopted the freedom of. Another fundamental issue that affects the freedom of information act is some other media laws that are still fully operational in nigeria. World factbook download 2011 central intelligence agency. Nigerias freedom of information act foia of 2011 and south africas promotion of access to information act of 2000 paia were enacted to give nigerians and south africans respectively, greater opportunity to exercise their right to information. This study examined the challenges in the implementation of freedom of information act in nigeria. Abstract freedom of information foi refers to the right which citizens in a society are expected to have to access information held by government institutions and officials. Prior to the enactment of the foia, nigeria had no laws which guaranteed. Freedom of information act and democratic consolidation in nigeria. Zip file format, for the convenience of visitors who wish to download a personal copy. Pdf an appraisal of the freedom of information act foia. After a decade of consistent and fearless advocacy by civil society and media practitioners, the newly elected president of nigeria, goodluck jonathan, has acceded to the legitimate demands and.
The twoday national conference on the theme freedom of information act 2011 and the fight against corruption and corporate fraud in governance, organized at abuja, was the institutes way of lending its voice to the federal governments fight against corruption and corporate fraud using the foi act as a point of reference. Economic and financial crimes cpmmission output and response rate number and nature of determinations made which resulted in a refusal to disclose information and the reasons for such determinations number of appeals made. In nigeria, the case is different as the freedom of information act, according to ogbuokiri 2011, contains more exemption sections and clauses than sections that grant access to information. With the coming into force of the act, every person now has a legal right of. Right to freedom of expression the right to freedom of expression is guaranteed and protected in section 39 of the 1999 constitution of nigeria in the following terms. It is an act for accessing public information to service the peoples right to know. Nigeria freedom of information act 2011 and its implication for records and office security management ayuba a. At that time, secrecy was the bureaucratic defensive mechanism. You are part of the reason why people cant walk up to their government to make their demands known, something that happens in other countries with no personal connections necessary. Article 19 welcomes the adoption of the freedom of information act in nigeria in may 2011. Nigerias freedom of information foi act was signed into law on may 28, 2011, after the longest legislative debate in the history of nigeria.
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