Minister Advises Civil Servants On FOI Act

Civil and Public Servants in Nigeria have been charged to take a critical look at the various provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 2011 with a view to improving their understanding of the implications of the Act to their duties.

The Minister/Deputy Chairman, National Planning Commission (NPC), Dr. Shamusuddeen Usman, gave the charge Wednesday in his Keynote address on the occasion of the Training Workshop on “Successful Implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 in NPC, organized by the commission for NPC Freedom of Information committee members and representatives of its parastatals, held at Bridge Waters Hotels, Enugu.

The workshop, the minister explained, was aimed at ensuring successful implementation of the Act in the commission, adding that the FOIA which was signed into law on May 28, 2011 by President Goodluck Jonathan, seeks among other things, to make public records and information more freely available, provide for public access to public records and information without authorisation, and establish procedures for the achievement of those purposes and other related matters.

According to the minister, “The task of sensitising the public, particularly staff of National Planning Commission on the importance of the Act, including the need to liaise with private sector, institutions and organisations to promote and disseminate information on the Act remains critical and cannot be over – emphasised”.

He, therefore, assured that NPC would continue to organize sensitisation training workshops to enable civil and public servants exhibit pacesetter performance at all times and in all circumstances.

Using the occasion to appreciate the Democratic Governance for Development of UNDP for co-sponsoring the workshop, Dr. Usman further reasoned that “This singular gesture has no doubt further highlighted their effort at ensuring thev realisation of the present administration’s transformation agenda, accountability, transparency and good governance”.

Also in his goodwill message, the Permanent Secretary, MDO, Mrs. Nkechi Ejele, enjoined all stakeholders in the country to identify the critical aspects of the FOIA for information document security management and what is expected of the civil service to do in order to satisfy the demand of citizens for fairness, justice, equity, efficiency and transparency in the conduct of government business for national development.

The Federal Ministry of Justice, she went on, has already provided operational guidelines for effective implementation of the FOIA, pointing out that “the guidelines are to be studied and institutionalized in all MDAs”.