The 2024 National Freedom of Information ranking is based on the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) compliance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act of 2011.
The ranking was done by a coalition of civil society organisations including the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Public-Private Development Centre (PPDC), Right to Know (R2K), Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Accountability Lab and BudgIT.
The coalition ranked 245 ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) and assigned points based on their level of responsiveness to FOI requests sent by the coalition members and proactive disclosure of relevant information to the public.
The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), and the Development Bank of Nigeria have emerged as the top three winners of the 2024 ranking.
This trend analysis compares the 2023 and 2024 trends in the FOI ranking.
A total of 245 MDAs were ranked in 2024.
Level of Responsiveness
- 20 per cent of MDAs responded within seven days of the request
- 7.8 per cent of MDAs responded within eight-14 days of the request
- 72.2 per cent of MDAs responded after 14 days or did not respond at all
The number of MDAs that responded within 14 days increased by 6.25 per cent from 64 MDAs in the previous years to 68 MDAs. Also, the number of MDAs ranked increased by 2.5 per cent from 239 MDAs in the previous years to 245 MDAs in 2024.
Level of Proactiveness
- Only 1.22 per cent of the 245 MDAs are fully proactive
- 6.94 per cent of the MDAs are partially proactive
- 91.84 per cent of the MDAs are non-proactive
Between 2023 and 2024, MDAs with full proactiveness increased by 50 per cent from two in the previous year to three in 2024. Also, MDAs with partial proactiveness decreased by 46.9 per cent from 32 in the previous year to 17 in 2024; while the non-proactiveness by MDAs increased by 10.3 per cent from 204 in the previous year to 225 in 2024.
Level of Disclosure
- Only 9.39 per cent (23 MDAs) of the 245 MDAs fully disclosed the information requested
- 5.71 per cent (14 MDAs) of the MDAs partially disclosed the information requested
- 84.9 per cent (208 MDAs) of the MDAs failed to disclose the information requested.
Meanwhile, MDAs with full disclosure increased by 64.3 per cent from 14 in the previous year to 23 in 2024. The MDAs with partial disclosure decreased by 72.5 per cent from 51 MDAs in the previous year to 14 MDAs in 2024, while the non-disclosure by MDAs increased by 20.2 per cent from 173 MDAs in the previous year to 208 MDAs in 2024.
The ICIR reported how the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission emerged as the winner in 2021 and the Bureau of Public Service Reform as the winner in 2022 as well as ICRC, NIPC, and NOA topped FOI ranking in 2023.
Kehinde Ogunyale tells stories by using data to hold power into account. You can send him a mail at jameskennyogunyale@gmail or Twitter: Prof_KennyJames | LinkedIn: Kehinde Ogunyale