Nigerian Reps make defence, economy no-go areas in passed FoI Bill

[NewsCaster]

The Guardian - True to their promise, members of the House of Representatives yesterday passed into law the controversial Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill, which had taken on the toga of the nation's oldest legal instrument before the National Assembly.

The 34-clause bill, which was unanimously passed by the lawmakers present at the session, was immediately transmitted to the Senate for concurrence.

Its passage was preceded by the clause-by-clause consideration as prepared by the House Committee on Information and Orientation as well as the Committee on Justice.

The planned law is however not open-ended as it excluded access to defence issues, cases under investigation by security agencies, and others classified under "national economic interests."

According to the committee, the bill seeks to provide a right of access to public information or records kept by governments or public institutions or private bodies carrying out public functions for citizens and non-citizens of the country."

The Executive arm of government and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) praised the Lower Chamber for doing Nigerians proud by passing the bill into law. They noted that the law would promote public accountability and enhance national development.

Chairman of the Justice Committee, Henry Seriake Dickson, who presented the report for consideration by the House, said the "bill is intended to increase the availability of public records and information to citizens of the country in order to participate more effectively in the making and administration of laws and policies, and to promote accountability of public affairs."

Other objectives of the bill include making public information more freely available; providing access to public records and information; protecting public records and information to the extent consistent with the public interest and the protection of personal privacy; and protecting serving public officers from adverse consequences for disclosing certain kind of official information without authorisation.

The planned law also established procedures for the achievement of these purposes and related ones.

It prescribed a three-year jail term for any officer of government found guilty of falsification or destruction of information.

"It shall be an offence punishable with three years imprisonment for any officer of public institution to destroy, alter, falsify or deliberately misrepresent information kept in his custody," the bill stated.

The proposed law, however, denied users access to information on defence, international affairs, and matters under investigation by law enforcement agencies.

The bill also excluded public access to information affecting the economic interest of the country.

In Section 15, the bill states that "a public institution may deny an application for information that contains trade secrets, financial, commercial or technical information that belongs to the government and has substantial economic value or is likely to have substantial economic value."

Also, the Bill made it mandatory for every public institution to publish certain information concerning its operation even without request by anybody.

Section (3)(3) of the bill declared that "a public institution shall cause to be published the following information:
• A description of the organisation and responsibilities of the institution including details of the programmes and functions of each division, branch and departments;
• list of all classes of records under the control of the institution in sufficient detail to facilitate the exercise of the right to information under this Act;
• a list of all manuals used by employees of the institution in administering or carrying out any of the programmes or activities of the institution;
• a description of document containing final opinions including concurring and dissenting opinions as well as orders made in the adjudication of cases;
• document containing substantive rules of the institution;, and
• document containing statements and interpretations of policies, which have been adopted by the institution."

An elated Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) over the lawmakers' action, praised them for rising to the occasion and acting in the collective interest of Nigeria.

Source: Reps make defence, economy no-go areas in passed FoI Bill