FOI Act: A Law On Paper, But Far From Reality -By Isaac Asabor

To not a few government officials that have been in active service, and also to virtually all practicing Journalists that have actively been in the field as well as some adequately informed Nigerians, it is no more news that former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 signed into law, the Freedom of Information Bill (FOI).

Having signed the bill into law, notable Nigerians and groups applauded the then President for signing the bill into law.

It will be recalled in this context that in its reaction to the then President’s assent to the bill that the leadership of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), said “We received the news of the assent of President to the Freedom of Information bill with gratitude to a president, who has kept his words.”

NGE, in a statement by its then President, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, who was the Editor-in-Chief of Vanguard Newspapers at the time, and now the Provost of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ) said “President Jonathan had, during the last Presidential debate, made a public commitment to sign the FOI bill into law once presented to him by the National Assembly as a personal commitment to openness, transparency, accountability and good governance. President Jonathan has really started well with this sign-post for good governance.

“By signing the FOI bill into law, the President has more than anyone else, empowered the citizens to participate in the governance of their own affairs. The people can now legitimately seek public information, corroborate their facts and make useful suggestions towards achieving greater good for the majority. With access to information, citizens can fight corruption and closet government and confront the few who misappropriate our resources to themselves alone.

“For the media, the signing of the FOI law has expanded the frontiers of press freedom for Africa’s most vibrant press. No more will it be permitted for the journalists to hurry to press with half-truth and misinformation when they can officially verify their facts. While the NGE congratulates every Nigerian for this all important citizen’s law and commend the out-going National Assembly for freeing the democratic space for citizens’ involvement in our democratic adventure, we call on everyone to use the law,” he added.

As gathered, the objective of the Act is to make public records and information more freely available and to also protect public records and information to the extent consistent with the public interest and the protection of personal privacy.

In a similar vein, the FOI Act also seeks to protect serving public officers from any adverse consequences of disclosing certain kinds of official information without authorization, and to establish procedures for the achievement of these purposes.

In fact, not a few Journalists at the time called on Jonathan’s administration to push ahead by establishing Special Courts to try corruption cases and violations of the Act as they were unanimous in their views that the law will ensure good governance and help in the protection of human rights, even as it will expose corruption and other negative vices that hinder Nigeria’s socio-economic development across societies it is made of.

However, despite the promises that are inherent in the FOI Act, it can be affirmed in this context that the Act is merely on paper, and not accessible and realistic particularly for Journalists. This is as not a few Journalists have confessed that accessing information and improving public information value through the application of the law have been seemingly impossible as requests for information filed were never responded to, and as such the reports were stalled. Against the foregoing backdrop, many people that are well informed about the Act have called for its reform to ensure that it is not used against the press amid the legal framework in Nigeria having a lot of bearing on the freedom of the press.

The reason for the foregoing view cannot be farfetched as the constitution protects freedom of expression and opinion, but there are many laws whose provisions make it possible to obstruct the work of journalists, such as the laws on cybercrime, terrorism and state secrets, and the penal code continues to treat defamation as a crime. In fact, it is germane to note that several treacherous laws regulating social media have been proposed in recent years, causing an outcry. Access to information remains very difficult.

Ostensibly blaming Journalists for not pressing forward enough to leverage the opportunities that are inherent in the law, Martins Oloja, Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian Newspapers, in 2021 posited that the Act has not helped anything, not because it is not useful, but Reporters generally are not serious about using it.

He said, “We always talk about frustration with the system but we haven’t tried enough. After you see a few media development organization and some Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) that have tried, and have recorded some successes but we practitioners have not been serious with invoking the powers in the law. We recognize the fact that the last but one Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke tried to confuse people when he said that states might need to enact their own law and that is domestication of the national law. That is not a good development because states did not domesticate anti-corruption law.”

Given the foregoing view credited to an editor of repute, and who knows his onions, it is germane to opine that the force of the of the law will remain a paper tiger as long as those that are supposed to readily avail information to Journalists, and Journalists that are on their part expected not to relent keep seeing the law as ostensibly inconsequential that the law will be of no effect. Thus, it can merely be considered be a law on Paper, but far from reality.