By  Emeka George

The idea of a Freedom of Information law for Nigeria was conceived in 1993 by three different organizations, working independently of each other.

The organizations are Media Rights Agenda, MRA, Civil Liberties Organization, CLO and the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ. The three organizations subsequently agreed to work together on a campaign for the enactment of a Freedom of Information Act.

The objective of the campaign was to lay down as a legal principle the right of access to documents and information in the custody of the government or its officials and agencies as a necessary corollary to the guarantee of freedom of expression.

Though there is a provision in the 1999 Constitution on the principles of freedom of expression, it requires enabling legislations for freedom of information for Nigerians to exercise these rights.

The Freedom of Information, FOI, Bill is a necessary instrument required to get pure and substantiated political and financial disclosures on decisions of public institutions for the benefit of the public.

The consultations among the initial partner organizations on the Freedom of Information bill was geared towards determining the various interest groups likely to be affected by the legislation – those who should have a right or standing to request information under a freedom of information regime and under what circumstances the information may be denied those seeking them.

The consultations was also meant to determine what departments or organs of government would be responsible for releasing information and documents to those seeking them; and determining the agencies and arms of government to which the legislation would extend.

MRA was designated the technical partner in the project under the arrangement. In keeping with this role, MRA was assigned the task of producing a draft Freedom of Information Law. That marked the beginning of the Freedom of Information Bill. The bill over the years has been in and out of the National Assembly.

The bill returned to the legislature in 2007 after former President Olusegun Obasanjo refused to assent to it before he left office that year. It was in the lower House for almost a year without attention.

The bill, described as the oldest legal document before the National Assembly, has been in the legislature since 1999 when MRA first introduced it to the lawmakers as a non-member bill.

Several areas treated by the joint committee in the bill include rights of access to records, information and government institutions, request for access, notice about where access to records are requested, transfer of request, extension of time limits, where access is refused, and action for waivers, destruction or falsification of records and where information is not available in discreet form.

Areas of waivers in the Act include International Affairs and Defence, in which case the head of government or public institution may refuse to disclose any record that may be “injurious to the conduct of international affairs and the defence of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

In 2008, the House rejected the bill at the third reading; in January 2009, most members of the Lower House asked Bankole to stand down the bill and vowed to kill it if brought to them again for passage.

That made it the tenth time it suffered a setback in the lower chambers. However, Dimeji Bankole did not relent in his effort to see the bill passed. He even declared his favourable disposition towards passing the FOI Bill into law.

At a lecture of Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria, MMPN, at the National Mosque in Abuja, Bankole stressed that in the present circumstance, the House would pressure President Goodluck Jonathan to sign the Bill into law.

At different fora involving media practitioners, Bankole had cause to explain reasons the Bill had faced sudden death each time it was re-introduced. He had promised repeatedly to personally ensure the passage before his tenure lapsed as Speaker.

Less than four months to the end of the sixth House of Representatives, the lower House passed the Bill giving the impression that Bankole made good his promise.

The bill will promote transparency. The activities of those who complicate information in order to misinform and scuttle investigation will be reduced.

Heightened transparency goes hand in hand with credibility and confidence. The implication of this is that there will be heightened trust and confidence amongst Nigerians; not only within the government circles but also amongst the ordinary people particularly executives who carry out cross-border transactions.

For many years, opportunities especially foreign direct investments are lost because of opaqueness of public sector transactions. This incidence will be greatly reduced with the FOI law in place.

It is not all kudos to the House for passing the Freedom of Information bill. The then Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Mohammed Abba-Aji, threw caution to the wind and said that the FOI might not see the light of day even after the milestone passage by the House of Representatives.

Senator Mohammed Abba-Aji said, he was disappointed in the House of Representatives for passing the bill and expressed the hope that the Senate would throw out the bill.

He threatened that in case the Senate passed the bill he would ensure that Jonathan does not give its assent to turn the bill into a law. He also boasted that he worked against the bill when he was a Senator. However, the President has disociated himself from the statement and the Senate went ahead to pass the bill.

The very nature of democratic government implies accountability and transparency, a free press and other democratic checks. Interestingly, Nigeria as a developing nation has free and independent press.

Its media have successfully exposed corruption in higher places and remained undaunted in the face of victimization, politicization and sentiment expressed in some quarters against their professional stubbornness.

Nigerians are now more comfortable and believe in the information from the impartial press than from opposition politicians who are usually one-sided in their attempt to nail those in the authority. Therefore, the media may be given unfettered access to information for the benefit of the citizenry.

With the strong investigative journalism in Nigeria and the likelihood that the media may further be strengthened by passage of the bill to expose corrupt practices, the fear and risk of discovery will ultimately reduce inordinate tendencies of institutions and officers to vices.

FOI would make records and information in the custody of any government officials more freely available to every person in Nigeria.

It will facilitate the availability of public records to citizens in order to encourage more informed participation in public discourse, promote transparency and accountability by public officers as well as protect public officers from punishment for disclosing official information without authorization.

Nigerians can access information on the cost of suspicious government projects, demand to know how funds earmarked for public projects are expended and obtain information on the activities of public agencies without having to demonstrate or prove any specific interest in the information being requested.

This is in fact a major gift from Bankole’s House of Representatives. With the historic passage of the Freedom of Information Bill (FOI), now renamed Right of Information Bill 2011 by the Dimeji Bankole-led House of Representatives, it is now easier to talk of adopting a kinder window to inquire into the stewardship of people in government. And against the views of cynics, President Goodluck Jonathan promptly signed the bill into law.

GEORGE , a public affair analyst