June 1, 2011 12:17AM
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President Goodluck Jonathan has finally signed the Freedom of Information Bill, 2011, into law.

The Bill, which was passed by the outgoing National Assembly, was conveyed to the Presidency on Friday, May 27, with the National Sovereign Investment Authority and the 2011 appropriation.

A statement from the president’s media office said, “Mr Jonathan assented to it on Saturday, May 28th.”

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 authorisation, and to establish procedures for the achievement of these purposes.

The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), in a statement signed by Gbenga Adefaye, its president, commended Mr Jonathan for signing the Bill saying the president “has really started well with this sign-post for good governance.”

“By signing the FOI bill into law, the president has more than anyone else empowered the citizens to participate in the governance of their own affairs. The people can now legitimately seek public information, corroborate their facts, and make useful suggestions towards achieving greater good for the majority.

“With access to information, citizens can fight corruption and closet government and confront the few who misappropriate our resources to themselves alone,” the guild added.

Similarly, the National Human Rights Commission has commended President Goodluck Jonathan, urging journalists to use the opportunity to hold governments at all levels accountable to the people.

In a statement, the executive secretary of the commission, Roland Ewubare, congratulated Nigerian journalists as principal beneficiaries of the Bill, and urged them to seize the opportunity provided by the Act to further carry out their roles of holding governments at all levels accountable to the people.

The Bill was first introduced to the National Assembly in 1999 and was first passed in 2007 but former President Olusegun Obasanjo refused to sign it into law.



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