Get Guardian on GoogleStakeholders at a recent conference organised by Media Rights Agenda (MRA) and the International Press Centre (IPC) to commemorate this year’s International Day for Universal Access to Information have advocated stronger enforcement of Nigeria’s Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011.
They canvassed better record-keeping, improved proactive disclosure of information, and greater use of the law by the media and civil society organisations to enable the Law realise its purpose.
The stakeholders also urged public institutions to establish dedicated FOI desks staffed by trained personnel, while calling on the judiciary to expedite the hearing and determination of FOI cases to ensure that information obtained through litigation remains timely and relevant.
The conference brought together journalists and other media professionals, representatives of civil society organisations (CSOs), lawyers, and other stakeholders from different sectors to dissect the implementation of the FOI Act and discuss the importance of access to information in promoting transparency and accountability in an information environment increasingly affected by misinformation and disinformation.
In her speech, senior broadcaster and investigative journalist Anike Funke-Treasure said, ‘for Nigerian newsrooms, the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011, is not an academic document.
It is our primary investigative shield,” she said. “When reporters routinely pull raw procurement records, budget allocations, and public registries under the FOI Act, we replace viral speculation with unassailable official data.”
She urged newsrooms to integrate FOI requests into daily newsgathering rather than treating them as tools reserved only for long investigations.
Presenting a paper on behalf of the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), Olaniyi Olaniyan noted, ‘the Freedom of Information Act gave Nigerians a legal right. Civil society must help turn that legal right into a lived reality. Information is power. Access to information is accountability. And accountability must include women and girls.’
He stressed the need for CSOs to file strategic requests, track responses, monitor compliance, and convert information into evidence for advocacy, particularly on issues affecting women and girls.
On his part, legal practitioner Alimi Adamu observed, ‘without the active involvement and engagement of lawyers, the effective implementation of the FOI Act will not be possible. Lawyers must therefore use all the resources at their disposal, their training, profession, skills, status in society, to ensure that the Law is obeyed and respected.’
He further urged legal practitioners to provide more pro bono support, strategic public-interest litigation, and advice to public institutions on compliance.
MRA Programme Officer, Ayomide Eweje, who presented a paper on the gender dimension of FOI implementation, noted that equal rights under the law did not automatically produce equal access in practice.
To her, ‘gender-responsive FOI implementation is not about giving women more rights than men. It is about identifying and addressing factors that may prevent people from exercising an existing right equally.’
She called for deliberate efforts to remove barriers that limit women’s ability to exercise the right of access to information.
The conference also recommended greater attention to the gender dimensions of FOI implementation.
Participants called on relevant authorities and stakeholders to adopt gender-responsive approaches that address barriers faced by women and other marginalised groups and ensure inclusive access to information
The participants recognised that timely access to credible public information has become increasingly important as the volume and speed of information circulating through digital platforms continue to increase.
They urged governments at all levels to demonstrate stronger commitment to the effective implementation of the FOI Act and ensure that public institutions comply with their obligations under the law.
They specifically urged public institutions to establish dedicated FOI desks staffed by trained personnel and to proactively publish a wide range of information in accordance with Sections 2(3) and 2(4) of the Act.
