Implementation Of FOI Act, Panacea For Good Governance – Malami

Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has said that vigorous implementation of the Freedom of information (FoI) Act, is essential for Nigeria to make significant breakthrough in the enthronement of good governance.
Malami made the assertion yesterday in Abuja at an event organised by the ministry to commemorate 10 years of implementation of the Act in the country.
The theme of the event is:”A Decade of Implementing the Freedom of Information Act by Public Institutions and Developing Sustainable Strategies for Strengthening the FoI Act”.
The minister, who was represented by his Special Assistant on Cyber Crimes, Mr Abiodun Aikomo, said the implementation of the FoI Act remained one of the cardinal policies articulated by the present administration.
“Section 29 of the Act places on the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, the responsibility and obligation to oversee compliance with the Act especially by the MDAs.
“As such, the office of the attorney-general published regulations on implementation and reporting requirements under the FOI Act, 2011 for public institutions on January 29, 2012
“This was closely followed with the guidelines on the implementation issued on March 15, 2012 and the revised edition issued on February 27, 2013.”
The minister said that the series of regulations were designed to clearly establish and coordinate the framework for compliance for effective monitoring and evaluation.
The attorney-general said it was also to respond to the challenges of implementing the Act by public institutions.
He expressed concerns that the implementation of the act had encountered several challenges among the different MDAs.
“Notwithstanding the laudable and noble objectives of the FoI Act and the regulations made pursuant thereto, there have been a lot of challenges towards the effective and efficient implementation of the Act by public institutions.
“Among such challenges are poor record keeping and management, lack of willingness in many quarters to accept the new information regime imposed by the FoI Act in Nigeria.”
He said one of the key points of celebrating a decade of implementation of the act, was to develop sustainable strategies to further strengthen its implementation.
“ Today’s event is expected to once again bring stakeholders together to foster widespread understanding, and instill a renewed commitment of FoI Desk Officers across public institutions towards a more effective implementation of the Act.”
He gave the assurance that the ministry would continue to work towards making the FoI Act achieve all its objectives in Nigeria.
He complimented all public institutions who had been compilling and also enhancing the implementation of the FoI Act in the last decade and urged those lagging behind to step up.