Reps passed FOI Bill, fours years after

Almost four years into its current sojourn in the National Assembly, the Freedom of Information Bill was finally passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday.

The House had first passed the Bill in 2006, followed by the Senate but former President Olusegun Obasanjo refused to append his signature to turn it into an Act. All but one (Clause 18) of the 34 clauses in the bill were passed by the House on Thursday.

The clause deals with “drafts” and preliminary information, which in the opinion of the House, cannot be cited as a public document because work on them has not been concluded.

The explanatory note of the committee on why the clause was deleted, reads, “This clause was deleted because it relates to information that has not been perfected and no public institution can be held responsible for proposals and decisions not perfected.”

The passing of the bill followed the adoption of the report of the joint Committee on Information/Justice on the document.

The Deputy Clerk of the House, Mrs. Cordelia Akunwafor, immediately read the bill for the third time.

Following the refusal by Obasanjo to sign the Bill, it was reintroduced again in 2007 and it has taken the current assembly over three and a half years before it was passed by the House on Thursday.

However, the next hurdle is the Senate, which is yet to pass the bill in concurrence with the House.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government , while reacting to the passage by the House, asked the Senate to follow suit in order to enable President Goodluck Jonathan to sign it into law before the end of the current administration on May 29.

Minister of Information and Communications, Mr. Labaran Maku, gave the advice at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.

Maku said he would also ensure that issues surrounding the Nigerian Press Council as well as enhanced salary package for media workers were resolved while he remains in office.

The minister who addressed the press in company with National President of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Mr. Mohammed Garba, also urged media workers to do their own part by insisting on ethics of the profession and truth in their reporting.

Also, the Nigerian Guild of Editors said it received with great joy the passage of the FOI Bill by the House.

Presdent of the Guide, Gbenga adefaye, in a statement, on Thursday said, “This is the second time within a decade, that the House would respond to our collective hunger for openness and transparency in the administration of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The FOI law will certainly aid accountability in our public life.

“It is remarkable that the leadership of the House of Representatives has kept its words to the Guild, to pass this bill because it agrees that the nation (not just the media) needs it. The Guild will like to note also the concurrence of the leadership of the House that a Freedom of Information Law will make legislation easier as nobody in the Ministries and the MDAs can withhold information that is needed for public good - whether for legislative purposes or basic information and education of the citizenry by the media.”

Adefaye, therefore, called on the Senate “to borrow a leaf from the House of Representatives by passing the Bill early enough for Presidential assent.”

The FOI had suffered several setbacks at the House after the reintroduction in 2007.

Some of the lawmakers had misconstrued the bill to be a media legislation meant to arm the media against public officials and politicians. Some had also raised questions on privacy, defence and national security.

Incidentally, no mention of media was made in any of the clauses in the bill, but the majority of lawmakers always maintained that it was a media bill.

The FOI simply gives right of access to public information to all Nigerians.

Its explanatory memorandum notes, “This bill seeks to provide a right of access to public information or records kept by government, public institutions and/or private bodies carrying out public functions for citizens and non-citizens of the country.

“This will increase 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 officers.”

One of the key sponsors of the bill, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, celebrated the action of the House on Thursday.

“I am happy that after 11 years of struggle, we have an FOI bill in Nigeria.

“This will deepen democracy and ensure accountability in governance; it is not a media bill,” she said.

Dabiri-Erewa appealed to the Senate to take a cue from the House by concurring to the bill.

“That is a hurdle remaining for us to cross.

“If the Senate passes it with differences, we still have to meet and harmonise the two versions,” she added.

The spokesman of the House, Mr. Eseme Eyiboh, commended the passage of the bill, saying that the House had delivered on its promise to pass the document.

Eyiboh dismissed speculation that the House passed the bill because members wanted to win the votes of the people during the general elections.

Similarly, the leadership of the opposition in the House described the passage of the bill as a “welcome development.”

The Minority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, said that the development showed that the “House is a listening one, not minding the fact that the bill was passed in the last minute.”

What is the contents of the bill?.