THE Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), and the Development Bank of Nigeria have emerged as the top three winners of the 2024 National Freedom of Information (FOI) compliance ranking.
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) 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.
This is part of an effort to commemorate the United Nations’ International Day for Universal Access to Information, marked every September 28.
Speaking at the award presentation, the chief executive officer of PPDC, Lucy Abagi, said that the FOI law was signed to promote accountability, decision making and citizen activeness within the country.
She added that the objective of the ranking was to ensure that government agencies were transparent, promote proactive disclosures, and empower government agencies to disclose information timely.
FOI law
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.
The ICIR reports that 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.
Ranking methodology
The ranking points were assigned to MDAs based on three parameters; proactive disclosure, level of responsiveness to requested information and level of disclosure.
The coalition also ranked the MDAs on the proactive disclosure of information on their websites. Some of this information includes the information relating to the receipt or expenditure of public or other funds of the institution, the names, salaries, titles, and dates of employment of employees and officers of the institution.
Others are the name of every official and the final records of voting in all proceedings of the institution; files containing applications for any contract, permit, grant licences or agreements.
The list includes the reports, documents, studies, or publications prepared by independent contractors for the institution; a description of the organisation and responsibilities of the institution, including details of the programme and functions of each division, branch and department of the institution; and others.
The ICIR reported how the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission emerged as the winner in 2021 and the Bureau of Public Service Reform 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