Nigeria’s Public Institutions Score Low in Freedom of Information Ranking
A recent ranking of Nigeria’s public institutions has revealed a stark lack of transparency, with most Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) failing to respond to Freedom of Information (FoI) requests. The Public and Private Development Centre, in collaboration with Accountability Lab Nigeria, Media Right Agenda, International Centre for Investigative Reporting, BudgiT Foundation, and Right To Know, unveiled the 2024 FoI ranking, which placed the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, and the Development Bank of Nigeria among the top three agencies.
However, the least-ranked institutions were the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Federal Ministry of Police Affairs, the National Centre for Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, the Industrial Arbitration Panel, and the Librarians Registration Council of Nigeria.
The ranking was based on public institutions’ proactiveness, level of disclosure, and level of responsiveness to FoI requests. Only 1.22% of the 245 MDAs were fully proactive, while 6.94% were partially active, and the remaining 91.84% were non-proactive. Additionally, only 9.39% of the MDAs fully disclosed the requested information, 5.71% partially disclosed the information, and 84.9% failed to disclose the requested information.
According to the Programme Officer of Right To Know, Victoria Etim, the security sector and the judiciary, except for the Supreme Court, were among the worst-performing agencies in terms of responding to FoI requests. She also pointed out that part of the challenges faced during the assessment was the inactive website of some MDAs.
"It’s the security sector, unfortunately, sometimes you also have the judiciary. We have a few like the Supreme Court that is always sending its annual reports, but overall, the security sector," Etim said.
The assessment aimed to promote transparency in Nigeria by unveiling the compliance level of the institutions with the Freedom of Information Act 2011. The findings are a wake-up call for the government to address the lack of transparency in its institutions and ensure that the public has access to the information it needs.
