For consistently failing to comply with its duties and obligations
under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011 over the last six years
and repeatedly violating the public’s right of access to information,
the Federal Ministry of Education was today inducted into the “FOI Hall
of Shame”.
Making
the announcement in Lagos, Media Rights Agenda (MRA) noted that the
Ministry has failed to designate an appropriate officer to whom FOI
requests should be directed in breach of Section 2(3)(f) of the FOI Act
and the Implementation Guidelines issued by the Attorney-General of the
Federation; refused to train its personnel on the public’s right of
access to information and for the effective implementation of the Act as
stipulated in Section 13 of the Act; consistently failed to submit its
annual FOI implementation report to the Attorney-General of the
Federation as required by Section 29 of the Act; and has neglected to
proactively publish and disseminate the categories of information
specified by the Act in Section 2(3), (4) and (5) of the Act.
Mr.
Ridwan Sulaimon, MRA’s Programme Manager in charge of Freedom of
Information, said in a statement: “The Federal Ministry of Education’s
continued negligence, failure and refusal to comply with virtually all
its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act can only be seen as
a strategy by the Ministry to frustrate the effective implementation of
the Act and must not be allowed to continue unchallenged. This act of
impunity in the disregard of our Laws must be redressed.”
Mr.
Sulaimon noted that an FOI request letter he personally took to the
Ministry a few weeks ago which was addressed to the head of the
Ministry’s Freedom of Information Unit “was rejected on the ground that
it was not addressed to the Minister and on the excuse that there is
neither a Freedom of Information unit or department in the Ministry.”
Describing
the action as a blatant violation of the FOI Act and the
Attorney-General’s Implementation Guidelines, Mr. Sulaimon said: “It is
also disheartening that over six years after the FOI Act came into
force, the Federal Ministry of Education has not submitted a single
annual report to the Attorney-General of the Federation as the law
requires. The Ministry still conducts its business under the Official
Secrets Act and disregards the values of transparency and openness
espoused by the FOI Act to bring about good governance.”
Mr.
Sulaimon stressed that in the light of its various acts of omission and
commission, the Ministry has constituted itself into a major impediment
to the effective implementation of the FOI Act, for which reason MRA
has selected it for induction into the FOI Hall of Shame.
MRA
launched the “FOI Hall of Shame” on July 3 to draw attention to public
officials and institutions that are undermining the effectiveness of the
Freedom of Information Act, 2011 through their actions, inactions,
utterances and decisions. Previous inductees into the FOI Hall of Shame
are: Justice Doris Okuwobi of the Ikeja High Court in Lagos, the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Federal Ministry of
Information and Culture, and Justice Iyabo Akinkugbe, also of the Ikeja
High Court.
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