President Goodluck Jonathan signs historic FOI bill into law

[emezico]

President Goodluck Jonathan has signed the Freedom of Information Bill 2011 into law.

The bill, which was passed last month by the National Assembly, was sent to the Presidency last Friday.

A statement from the Deputy Director, Information in the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. O. J. Abuah, said Jonathan assented to the bill on Saturday, less than 24 hours to his inauguration as the fourth elected civilian president.

The statement also summarised the purpose behind the new law, saying, "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."

It added that the "Act also seeks to protect serving public officers from any adverse consequences of disclosing certain kinds of official information without authorisation, and to establish procedures for the achievement of these purposes."

The signing of the bill attracted reactions from stakeholders who described it as laudable.

Under the new legislation, all public institutions will have to be open about their operations and expenditure while citizens will have the right to access information about their activities.
The FoI bill was first submitted to the 4th National Assembly in 1999 but it did not make much progress. It returned to the legislative chambers in the 5th National Assembly in 2003 and was passed by both chambers in the first quarter of 2007. However, it was vetoed by President Olusegun Obasanjo, who cited "national security" as reason.

The bill returned to both chambers of the 6th National Assembly in 2007 and was finally passed on May 24, 2011.

Source: The Punch

[emezico]