Nigeria: Time for Action on Open Government Law

ABUJA—The Open Society Justice Initiative and Right To Know (R2K), a Nigerian open government group, are together calling on the country's parliament to act with urgency to secure the passage into law of legislation that genuinely enhances public access to official information.

The Senate and House of Representatives of Nigeria’s National Assembly have both recently passed separate versions of a Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill that are now to be reconciled in a conference committee. There are substantial differences between the two versions of the bill, which must be submitted to President Goodluck Jonathan before his term concludes at the end of May if it is to become law.

Ene Enonche, Co-ordinator of R2K said: “There are nine major differences between the version of the bill passed by the Senate and that passed by the House. How they resolve these differences will determine whether Nigeria ends up with a law that grants or blocks access to information."

"We call on the joint conference committee to approach its task with maximum seriousness and ensure that it recommends a law that enhances access to information in Nigeria rather than blocking it.”

When the Senate passed the bill on 16 March 2011, it created a six-person committee to represent it in conference committee negotiations with the House to agree the final text. The House has yet to name its own representatives to these negotiations.

The full National Assembly will not sit again until after Nigeria’s general elections in April 2011. It will be dissolved at the end of May 2011 when a new parliament will be inaugurated. If the bill is not passed before that date, it will lapse.

Nigeria’s former president Olusegun Obasanjo vetoed a similar parliamentary bill in 2007, citing unspecified concerns over national security. President Jonathan supports the passage of the bill into law.

Maxwell Kadiri, associate legal officer of the Open Society Justice Initiative said: “After nearly twelve fruitless years and three parliamentary sessions, this National Assembly has a remarkable opportunity to finally usher Nigeria into the club of open and democratic societies with the passage of this bill.”

“The time is short and we cannot afford to let this opportunity slip. We stand prepared to work with them to realize this goal during the life of this parliament.”