THE Ejigbo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) in Lagos State has refused to disclose details of ten projects executed between 2024 and 2025, citing “vague and overbreadth (sic) of the request,” “protection of confidential and commercial information,” and an ongoing ICPC investigation.
None of these reasons is a justifiable cause for refusing to grant request for information under the Freedom for Information Act (FOIA) of 2011.
In a letter dated February 12, 2025, and signed by the Deputy Director of Legal, Okoya A. Adegoke, the council said that it could not comply with The ICIR’s FOIA request.
The ICIR had sent a formal FOIA request seeking comprehensive information on the award of contracts for selected roads, drainage, and other infrastructure projects executed by the council between 2024 and 2025, including project timelines, contract details, releases and procurement procedures.
The FOIA request specifically asked for information on the purchase of vehicles, construction of roads drainages, and sand filing and grading of some roads in the council area.
The request was intended to provide insight into how contracts were awarded, executed, and monitored by the local government council.
However, the council claimed the request was “broad and sweeping” and therefore “administratively impracticable and legally unsustainable.”
“The request as presented lacks sufficient specificity as to the particulars of projects, documents, timelines, or categories of information sought. The broad and sweeping nature of the request renders it administratively impracticable and legally unsustainable in its current form,” it claimed in its response.
The council further claimed that some of the requested documents, contracts, financial statements, and procurement records are protected as confidential and commercially sensitive.
It also added that the projects are under investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), maintaining that disclosure could interfere with ongoing proceedings.
Response violates FOI law
Under the Freedom of Information Act, individuals or organisations have the right to access information from government ministries, agencies and departments.
Apart from making proactive disclosures about inormation in their possession, public institutions are legally mandated to provide requested information within seven days or issue a clear, written denial citing the relevant legal sections of the access to information law.
Section 1(1) of the FOI Act guarantees the right of any person to access information in the custody of any public official or agency, while Sections 4 and 5 spell out strict timelines for response and transfer of requests.
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 members of the public through various means, including print, electronic and online sources, and at the offices of such Public institutions.
The council’s claim of “confidentiality” is without legal basis, as FOIA explicitly states in Sections 11 and 12 that information related to contracts, project implementation, and procurement funded by public money cannot be withheld on commercial confidentiality grounds unless it would lead to actual harm to third parties, which is clearly not the case here.
The ICIR reports that contracts, project budgets, timelines, and procurement documents do not fall under Act’s exemptions clauses.
Section 11 permits withholding information only if its disclosure could harm international affairs or national defence.
Section 12 permits denial of information in law enforcement or security matters if disclosure would interfere with investigations or compromise security.
Section 11, subsection 1, states “a public institution may deny an application for any information the disclosure of which may be injurious to the conduct of international Affair and the defence of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Subsection 2 adds “Notwithstanding subsection (1), an application for information shall not be denied where the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs whatever injury that disclosure would cause.”
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M