Nigeria is a country
that has passed a lot of laws and signed a number of international conventions
that will help in ensuring transparency and accountability. However, the
implementation of these laws is weak. The Freedom of Information Act was
passed into law in September 2011. Two years on, anecdotal evidence suggests
that the response to information requests by many government agencies has been
poor. Recently, an NGO working on monitoring government procurement processes
put in a request to the Ministry of Mines to inspect its procurement records
for equipment recently bought. Apart from the length of time it took to get a
response, a payment request of N 65,000 (about $400) was
made for photocopying and certifying the documents. This charge seems
quite high particularly as the revised guidelines on the
FOI implementation developed by the Federal Ministry of Justice
states that photocopying should not be more than N10 (6 cents)
per page.
What
can be done?
Ministries,
Departments and Agencies (MDAs) exist to provide various services to Nigerians.
Complying with FOI requests should be one of them. Continuous pressure from
Nigerians appears to be the major solution. MDAs should have service charters
that clearly outlines the services expected. Nigerians should put more pressure
on government agencies to publish these service charters (service standards)
which should clearly state what services people should expect and what charges
will be made for a service (if any). These service charters should take into
account the requirements of the Freedom of Information law.
A
bit of naming and shaming may also help. An independent evaluation of MDAs
either by CSOs/think tanks/or institutions like SERVICOM on FOI compliance
might help. Best compliant MDA can be given an award and the worst compliant
MDA named. Rewards system could also be introduced. Public servants who have
done very well in complying with FOI requests could be given an award with a
financial reward. This could incentivise public servants to comply better.
Any
hope for change?
Nigerians
are not relenting and will continue to pressurize the government to comply.
Some CSOs have just recently put in a request for information on the cost and
number of Nigerian delegates that went to New York for the UN General Assembly.
Another group has also requested the National Assembly to provide details on
their budget. Let’s see what happens. Maybe the government will surprise us and
adhere to these requests by its citizens!
