A public analyst, Comrade Bolakale has expressed disappointment at the silence of the governor on the Freedom of Information act bill.
Bolakale who made this disclosure in a statement obtained by THE INFORMAMT247 maintained that a positive official statement from the government would have raised the integrity of the current administration and earn the governor an enviable height among his contemporaries.
He further reiterate that politicians are only afraid of the bill because they aren’t abreast of the benefit it will bequeath them.
He said, “It’s important to note that FOI or freedom to information is the right to access information held by public bodies and it is an integral part of fundamental right of freedom of expression as recognised by Resolution 59 of the UN General Assembly adopted in 1946, as well as by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).”
“Democracy is all about “Good Governance” and Transparency, Accountability, Equity and Inclusiveness are the key elements of Good Governance while FOI remains the potent instrument to achieve to make those elements productive under democracy.”
Nonetheless, he emphasised that the governor is still within his right if he withheld assent, “In anyway, Governor Abdulrasaq Abdulrahaman hasn’t committed any offence or breached any section of the constitution by not signing the bill into law but as a Governor who won on a majority votes and promised inclusive government, I will like to appeal to His Excellence to know that, signing FOI bill into law will make him empower kwarans to participate in the governance of their own affairs. The people can then legitimately seek public information, corroborate their facts and make useful suggestions towards achieving good for the majority.”
The thirty days constitutional period for the governor to either assent or reject the FOI bill expires on Friday 19th July, 2019 without any official statement explaining the position of the government.
All efforts to get the position of the government prooved abortive as the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye refused comment on the matter.
When contacted, the Special Assistance on Media to Speaker, Sheriff Ibrahim said he is not aware of the bill being transmitted back to the Assembly, “but once that’s done, we will make it public and it will be read on the floor of the house alongside other transmitted documents,” He said.
It will be recall that the former President Jonathan assented to it on Saturday, May 28th, 2011. However, the application of the bill at the state parastatals and ministries have since become a legal tussle that calls for the domestication of the bill by the state governments.
The objective of the Act is to make public records and information more freely available and to also protect public records and information to the extent consistent with the public interest and the protection of personal privacy.
The Freedom of Information Act also seeks to protect serving public officers from any adverse consequences of disclosing certain kinds of official information without authorization, and to establish procedures for the achievement of these purposes.