The Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC) has unveiled an artificial intelligence-powered platform aimed at improving compliance with Nigeria’s Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and making access to public information easier for citizens.

The platform, known as the Freedom of Information Automation System (FOIAS), was launched on Thursday at the Access to Information Conference 2026 in Abuja.

The conference, themed “Digital Transparency: Harnessing Technology for FOI Compliance in Nigeria,” brought together representatives of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), civil society organisations, law clinics, development partners, media practitioners and technology stakeholders.

Speaking on the topic, “15 Years of FOI and 10 Years of FOI Ranking: Achievements, Challenges and Digital Future,” PPDC Chief Executive Officer, Lucy Abagi, said the initiative was designed to address longstanding challenges in the implementation of the FOI Act.

She noted that more than 15 years after the law was enacted, many citizens still struggle to access public information due to delayed responses, inconsistent compliance and poor reporting practices by public institutions.

According to her, the challenge is no longer whether access to information is important but how to make transparency more systematic, efficient and sustainable.

“The future of access to information lies not only in legislation and advocacy, but also in innovation and technology,” Abagi said.

She explained that FOIAS would provide a single platform through which citizens can submit and track FOI requests across public institutions, adding that the system will also enable ministries, departments and agencies to monitor response rates, identify compliance gaps and improve their performance through digital dashboards.

Abagi said the platform would further create a structured national repository of information requests and responses, giving journalists, researchers and civil society organisations easier access to data and public records.

She described the innovation as a shift from manual processes to smart systems capable of supporting real-time accountability and evidence-based governance.

“FOIAS represents more than a digital platform. It represents a shift from manual processes to smart systems, from fragmented compliance monitoring to real-time accountability,” she said.

The PPDC boss stressed that the initiative should be seen as a governance reform rather than merely a technology project.

According to her, greater access to information has direct implications for anti-corruption efforts, procurement oversight, public service delivery and citizen participation in governance.

Abagi said PPDC’s experience over the last decade showed that compliance with the FOI Act had improved, with its latest assessment recording about a 20 per cent increase in proactive disclosure of information by public institutions.

She explained that the organisation’s annual FOI ranking exercise involved sending information requests to hundreds of MDAs and evaluating their responses based on statutory obligations under the law.

The assessment, she said, measured response timelines, quality of information provided, proactive disclosure practices and compliance with reporting requirements to the Federal Ministry of Justice.

Abagi noted that the process had largely been manual, requiring civil society organisations to track requests and responses across government institutions nationwide.

She said lessons from the exercise informed the development of FOIAS, which is expected to reduce duplication of effort, improve record management and simplify access to information.

“We are working closely with the Federal Ministry of Justice to support the adoption of the platform across public institutions,” Abagi disclosed.

She added that discussions were already underway to expand FOI compliance monitoring beyond federal institutions to state and local government levels while urging government agencies, civil society groups, the media, academia and technology innovators to work together to build a culture of transparency and accountability.

“The question before us is no longer whether transparency matters. The question is whether we are willing to build the systems, institutions and partnerships necessary to make transparency the norm rather than the exception,” she said.