Be prepared for accountability on spending – ENetSuD tells Kwara govt as S’Court rules on FOI
Following the verdict of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on Freedom Of Information (FOI), an anti-corruption Civil Society Organization in Kwara State, Elites Network for Sustainable Development (ENetSuD), has urged the state government to be prepared to account for all its past, current, and future expenditures under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2011 or be ready to always face legal actions.
This was a reaction from the ENetSuD Coordinator, Prof. Alagbonsi Abdullateef, to the latest Supreme Court Judgment which held that the FOI Act applies to and is binding on all tiers of government in the Nigerian Federation.
According to a statement by Comrade Lanre Osho, the Deputy Coordinator, ENetSuD expressed its difficulties in tracking projects executed by the successive the state government due to the government’s position that Kwara State is not obliged to obey the FOI Act as it needs to domesticate the Act in the state.
The statement reads in part, “This (KWSG) position led ENetSuD to pursue the domestication of the Act in the State, which AbdulRahman-led KWSG and Danladi-led KWHA have conspiratorially killed for about 6 years.
“Now, we are very glad that the Supreme Court has terminated the conspiracy between the KWSG and the KWHA in the last 6 years. The KWHA failed to make the minor amendment to the already-passed bill before the Governor could assent to it, and the KWSG also failed to question the KWHA for not completing the minor amendment requested by the Governor. This conspiracy succeeded for 6 years because it was a calculated attempt to prevent open governance, transparency, and accountability from the KWSG to Kwarans.
“ENetSuD re-emphasized that its previous agreement with the KWSG in July 2020 to introduce social audit of government projects was not a replacement for the FOI Law it championed in the state, as access to information through the FOI Act / Law is not the only way of promoting transparency and accountability on government projects execution.
The CSO said that even with the applicability of the FOI Act to Kwara state as pronounced by the Supreme Court, it would still welcome additional transparency and accountability measures that the state government may wish to introduce in the future in the public interest.
The organisation, however, called on Kwarans to take advantage of the new direction from the Supreme Court to always ask questions from the state government and the 16 Local Government Councils on how all public funds are spent by those entrusted with our patrimony.
