THE Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has refused to respond to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request made by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) despite a court judgement.
The ICIR reported that HEDA had dragged NCS to court and floored the organisation because of its refusal to respond to the FOI request.
An Abuja Federal High Court’s proceedings and judgment on the case obtained by The ICIR shows that HEDA had, on December 17, 2021, written to the NCS to provide information on the recruitment exercise it (NCS) had done that year, and details of the contract of the renovation of its headquarters in Abuja.
Information sought by HEDA
Information that HEDA sought, using the FoI, included:
- The name of the company/firm that the NCS contracted for its recruitment screening exercise in 2021;
- The amount the NCS agreed to pay the contractor for the exercise;
- The process/guidelines for selecting the contractor company/firm in the recruitment exercise.
Another request was the name of the company/firm the NCS contracted to renovate its headquarters in Abuja and the amount the contract was awarded.
Weeks after the NCS failed to provide the information, HEDA headed to court and filed a suit against it, according to Section Six of the FoI, which says, “A person entitled to the right of access conferred by this Act shall have the right to institute proceedings in the court to compel any public institution to comply with the provisions of this section.”
HEDA’s suit, filed on March 28, 2022, sought an order of mandamus compelling the NCS to provide the requested information.
Lawyers Saidu Muhammad Lawal, Abdulrazak Abdulganiyu, Joshua Ifeanyi Onuekwusi, Paul Adedapo Adewuyo, Abdulrahman Uwais, and C. B. Yakubu represented HEDA. At the same time, the NCS hired Smart Akande, Abiola Olowoniyi, Jayeola Dada, and A. S. Adeyemi.
On April 12, the respondent filed a counter affidavit to the applicant’s motion on notice and also filed a notice of preliminary objection challenging the court’s jurisdiction to entertain the suit on the following grounds, to wit: that the application/ suit did not disclose any reasonable cause of action against the respondent, and that the suit/applicant constituted an abuse of court process.
The NCS also said it refused to provide the information sought by HEDA because it fell within Section 15 (1) of the FoI, which empowers institutions to deny information that could cause harm to third parties on issues relating to trade secrets.
The judgement
After both parties had filed their written addresses, the trial judge, Emeka Nwite, first dealt with the preliminary objection before going into the case’s merit.
The judge declared as untenable and inconsequential the respondent’s argument that the information sought must be denied because it was exclusively between an employer and employee bound on the personal information in line with Section 15(1) of the FOI.
He consequently dismissed the preliminary objection by the NCS.
In his ruling, after referring to various similar cases, the judge granted HEDA’s prayers and issued an order of mandamus compelling the NCS to provide the information the applicant requested.
Information the NCS must provide, as ordered by the court, include the name of the company/firm it contracted to conduct the said recruitment, the process/guidelines for selection adopted by the contracted company/firm and the NCS in the said recruitment exercise, and the name of the company/firm contracted to renovate the NCS’ headquarters in Abuja, as well as the amount awarded.
The judge said, “In my humble view, the information sought is the most simplest and harmless information that an applicant is expected to get from a public institution like the respondent. Where an institution like the respondent denies an applicant the instant information sought, it will not only defeat the very purpose of the Act, it will also encourage corruption and financial recklessness. The respondent has no valid reason to deny the applicant the information sought.”
Response to the court judgement
But more than three months after the court order, the NCS has failed to respond to the FoI request by HEDA.
In a chat with The ICIR on the matter on Tuesday, October 24, the chairman of HEDA, Olanrewaju Suraju, said the organisation plans to file a contempt charge against the Customs for refusing to grant HEDA’s FoI request despite the court judgement.
“We have written them on the need for them to understand the court’s decision and, at the same time, comply with the court’s order within the reasonable time permitted in law.
“If we don’t have a response, we are already going back to the court to file the necessary action of contempt of court against the leadership of the customs,” Suraju said.
Suraju added that the change in leadership at the NCS should not affect the judgement because government is a continuum.
When contacted, the National Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Customs, Abdullahi Aliyu Maiwada, said he was unaware of the case but promised to consult the legal unit to get more information.
“I am not on seat; I travelled. This is a legal issue, and I cannot talk about it without consulting the legal unit and getting a proper legal briefing.
“As far as I am concerned, I am not aware of it; I require a legal briefing. Unfortunately, I am not on seat. I have travelled out of Abuja for another official engagement, so I may not be able to deliver this information within this week,” he stated.
FoI Act
The ICIR reports that the FoI Act, signed by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011, is viewed by many as the boldest effort made by any government in Nigeria to make public officials accountable to the citizens.
Section One (1, 2 and 3) of the Act states citizens’ right to request any information of public interest from any government-funded institution or public organisation receiving funds from the government.
The ICIR further reports that, like the NCS, many institutions fail to honour the law.
To promote responses by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and private organisations taking funds from the government to FoI requests, The ICIR, in collaboration with partners, had consecutively given awards to institutions adjudged to have responded most promptly to FoI requests over the past years. Here are the 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 winners.
A reporter with the ICIR
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