Search Results
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17 October 2013
FOI Notes: Transparency Research, Rio, Nigeria, Open Data
Transparency Research: The papers for the 3rd Annual Conference on Transparency Research, to be held in Paris Oct. 24-26 are now available. Hannes Meissner, ‘Functioning , Effects and Perspectives of Transparency Initiatives – The Example of Azerbaijan‘ Luis Emilio Cuenca Botey & Laure Célérier, ‘Participatory Budgeting: a Bourdieusian Interpretation‘ Tsvetelina Yordanova, ‘Transparency in Foreign Policy […]
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11 October 2013
FOI Notes: Latin America, Nigeria, Canada, India, U.S.
OGP: A study documents the experience of civil society in Latin American regarding the Open Government Partnership focuses on the c activities of two regional civil society networks – Transparency International and Alianza Regional por la Libre Expresión e Información (Regional Alianza for Freedom of Expression and Information). Nigeria: A civil society organization, Public and […]
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27 August 2013
The Nigerian FOIA Picks a Useful Compass in the U.S. FOIA
By Oluwasegun Obebe Obebe is the Records, Information & Privacy Officer with the Washington, D.C., Department of Corrections. Nigeria surely has a tempestuous post colonial history, and has garnered unenviable international notoriety as a corrupt country of swindlers and “419” scam artists. But the nation has also clearly shown an irrepressible drive toward a transparent and […]
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2 August 2013
Nigerian Official Urges Doubling of Reply Period
The head of the Nigerian civil service, Bukar Aji, on July 30 recommended that the 2011 Freedom of Information Act be amended to allow 14 days instead of seven to respond to requests. Aji spoke at National Conference on the Freedom of Information Act, organized by the Right to Know Initiative, in Abuja. He said […]
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31 July 2013
Nigerian Judge Has It All Wrong
By Edetaen Ojo Ojo is Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda in Lagos, a former Chair of the Steering Committee of and a member of the Working Group of the African Platform on Access to Information (APAI).This article was originally published on the Media Rights Agenda website. In a recent ruling, his lordship, Justice Gabriel […]
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17 June 2013
Nigeria Failing to Post Spending Data, Paper Says
The Nigerian federal government is consistently failing to put information about spending online, according to an article by Ajibola Hamzat in The Guardian. Under the 2010 freedom of information law, Section 2(3 and 4), government agencies must publish information including “information relating to the receipt or expenditure of public or other funds of the institution, […]
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31 May 2013
Nigerian Judiciary Supporting New FOI Law, Group Reports
Court rulings in Nigeria are consistently upholding the two-year-old freedom of information law, according to a Nigerian watchdog group. Media Rights Agenda praised the judiciary, saying that most rulings have counteracted refusal to disclose information by public institutions. The May 28 press release cited a number of specific examples. MRA’s Deputy Executive Director Jennifer Onyejekwe […]
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1 October 2012
Nigerian Group Urges More Commitment to FOI Law
The Right to Know coalition in Nigeria has called “for greater commitment” by the government to the provisions of the new freedom of information law. “R2K notes with great concern that 18 months after the enactment of the FOI Act there is no official gazetted copy of the Law. Worse still, public institutions are yet […]
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13 August 2012
Nigerian Energy Company Pledges to Follow FOI Law
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has promised to follow the 2011 Freedom of Information Act, according to a news report. Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Andrew Yakubu, said the NNPC management established a task force on the new law after it was passed “We have since internalized the contents of that report and […]
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6 July 2012
Nigerian Court Orders Disclosure by Assembly
Amid a swirling controversy over President Goodluck Jonathan’s adamant “don’t give a damn” refusal to disclose his assets, a Nigerian judge has ordered the National Assembly to disclose information on salaries, emoluments, and allowances received by its members between 2007 and 2011. The president’s statement has arroused heated debate and even involved the U.S. embassy. […]
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21 June 2012
Nigerian FOI Conference Focuses on Implementation
Suggestions for implementation and use of the new Nigerian freedom of information law dominate the communiqué developed at the National Summit on the Freedom of Information Act, 2011, held in Abuja, Nigeria, June 18 and 19. The conference was attended by 164 participants from various sectors and interest groups, according to the organizers, the Media […]
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3 February 2012
Nigerian State of Ogun Will Pass FOI Law, AG Says
The Ogun state government in Nigeria intends to pass a freedom of information bill on Feb. 29, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Wemimo Ogunde said recently, according to media reports. Ogune made the disclosure Feb. 1 at the opening ceremony of a two-day workshop on FOI, according to an article in Daily Trust by […]
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25 November 2011
FOI Notes: Latin America, Kenya, U.S., Nigeria, More
Latin American: “Supreme Audit Agencies in Latin America: Report on Transparency, Participation and Accountability,” a report in English and Spanish coordinated by Asociacion Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia. Kenya: Global Integrity has a new report out “a bottom-up scorecard of transparency, anti-corruption and accountability efforts in Kenya’s three largest cities – Kisumu, Mombasa […]
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7 July 2011
Nigerian State of Ekiti Approves FOI Law
Kayode Fayemi, governor of the Nigerian state of Ekiti State, signed a freedom of information act for his state on July 4. The legislation was described as a domestication” of the new Nigerian national FOIA law in report by Emma Maduabuchi in The Independent. The Nigerian law was signed in May. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) […]
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14 June 2011
Nigeria Law One of the Best Says Advocate Edetaen Ojo
The freedom of information bill that finally emerged in Nigeria is one of the best in the world, according to a key figure in the successful campaign for a FOI law in Nigeria. Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda, gave an extensive interview to The Independent with Emma Maduabuchi, Assistant Features Editor. Ojo […]
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13 June 2011
Governor Proposes FOI Law for Nigerian State of Ekiti
The Nigerian state of Ekiti governor, Kayode Fayemi, has sent a freedom of information bill to the State Assembly. Passage would make Ekiti the first state to pass a FOI law in the wake of a new national law being approved, according to a report by Davidson Iriekpen and Toba Suleiman in This Day. According […]
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3 June 2011
Nigerian President Signs Freedom of Information Bill
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has signed a freedom information bill. The president’s signature May 28 came 11 years after a FoI bill was first submitted to Nigeria’s 4th National Assembly in 1999. A bill was passed by both chambers in the first quarter of 2007, but was vetoed by President Olusegun Obasanjo. The newly enacted […]
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25 May 2011
Nigerian Assembly Passes Harmonized FOI Legislation
The Nigerian Senate and House May 24 passed a harmonized version of the Freedom of Information bill worked out bv a Joint Conference Committee. Advocates are urging President Goodluck Jonathan, who has previously stated his support for a FOI law, to sign the bill, and key legislators are predicting it will become law. However, Next […]
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6 May 2011
Nigerian FOI Bill One of Last Items on Assembly Agenda
With less than a month to go until the end of the parliamentary session in Nigeria, the freedom of information bill will be a priority, according to Senate officials. The big task remaining, however, is to harmonize the House and Senate bills, and a joint committee to do the job has not been appointed. Nevertheless, […]
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8 April 2011
Bar Group Urges Passage of FOI Legislation in Nigeria
The Human Rights Institute of The Nigerian Bar Association this week advocated for passage of freedom of information legislation. A letter signed by Festus Okoye, the secretary of the Institute, highlighted the nine major differences between the version passed by the Senate and that passed by the House. A joint committee has been named to […]