A FEDERAL High Court sitting in Benin has granted the request of Accountability Lab, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) focused on governance and development, to proceed with legal action against the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) for failing to disclose critical information regarding host community funds.

A statement by the organisation on Tuesday, October 16, stated that the NGO had on July 17, sent a freedom of information request to the NUPRC, asking for details of companies that contributed three per cent of their operating expenses to the host community development trusts in Akwa Ibom, Delta, and Rivers states.

The organisation also inquired about possible fines imposed or license revocations for companies that did not meet the August 15, 2023 deadline for establishing the trusts, as mandated by the relevant law.

“The applicant on the 17th day of July 2024 sent an FOI request to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission seeking information and records on the list of companies that have paid three per cent of their operating expenses to the host Community Development Trust incorporated in Akwa Ibom, Delta, and Rivers states.

“Also, the NGO is seeking to know how much the three per cent amounts to in each of the trusts. Also, the requester wants evidence of fines paid or notice of revocation of licenses issued to companies that failed to meet up with August 15, 2023, the deadline of establishing trust as provided by paragraph 9(2) of the enabling law,” part of the statement read.

The commission, however, allegedly failed to provide the information.

The organisation stressed that the NUPRC’s chief executive, Gbenga Komolafe, during a press briefing on September 9, 2024, disclosed that the commission had raised N60 billion in local currency and $100 million in foreign currency for these trusts.

However, he admitted that the funds remained unutilised due to ongoing disputes and legal challenges, casting doubt on the effectiveness of the trust’s implementation.

Presiding over the case, B.O Quadri, a justice, asked the organisation to file a judicial review of the case while fixing the hearing of the originating application on October 24 2024.

The ICIR reports that in 2011, former President Goodluck Jonathan signed the FOI Bill into law to make public records and information more freely available and accessible to Nigerians.

However, more than a decade after the law became operational, some MDAs still flout it by not responding to requests.

According to the Act, the public institution to which the application was made is expected to make available the information requested within seven days.

The law gives a person, group, association or organisation the right to access information from all government institutions and private firms utilising public funds.

Section 1, subsection (1) of the FOI Act, states that “Notwithstanding anything contained in any other Act, law or regulation, the right of any person to access or request information, whether or not contained in any written form, which is in the custody or possession of any public official, agency or institution howsoever described, is established.”

Also, Section 2, subsection 4, of the Act mandates public institutions to ensure that information requested by an individual or organisation is widely disseminated and made readily available to the public through various means, including print, electronic and online sources, and at the offices of such public institutions.

Should there be any reason an FOI request will not be granted, the Act stipulates that the affected institution must give written notice to the applicant on why the information will not be granted, referencing the section of the Act under which the denial is made.