|
MFWA Decries President Obasanjo’s Refusal to Sign FOI Bill into Law
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has described President
Olusegun Obasanjo’s refusal to sign the Freedom of Information Bill into
Law as a major setback for the West African region in the struggle to
ensure popular participation in democratic processes. It therefore
called on the legislators to demonstrate courage by invoking their
powers under the Nigerian Constitution to countermand the President’s
vetoing of the Bill.
MFWA, in a statement by its executive director, Prof. Kwame Karikari,
expressed its disappointment at president Obasanjo’s action adding that
Governments and civil society organizations in West Africa, particularly
in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia had already initiated similar
processes to grant their citizens access to public records and
documents, and that they had looked to Nigeria for leadership on this
issue.
It said it was “regrettable that President Obasanjo lost this great
opportunity to provide leadership for the rest of the region,” adding
that in so doing, the President betrayed his lack of commitment to
transparency and accountability in public service and has once again
called into question the sincerity of his much touted war against
corruption.
The statement observed that President Obasanjo’s action has also
resulted in Nigeria’s failure to meet the regional and international
obligations on this issue which to adopt a legal instrument to give its
citizens access to public records and documents under Article 4 of the
Declaration of Principles on Freedom of
Expression in Africa; Article 9 of the African Union Convention
on Preventing and Combating Corruption;
Article 19 of the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights; the Commonwealth Freedom of Information Principles; the UN’s
Principles on Freedom of Information; and Articles 10 and 13 of
the UN Convention Against Corruption.
The organization urged the National Assembly to override President
Obasanjo’s veto and put Nigeria on the path of compliance with its
international obligations, freely entered into, and enhance the capacity
of Nigerian citizens to participate in governance
The MFWA expressed its solidarity with ordinary Nigerians and civil
society organizations in the country that have clamoured for this Law
over the last eight years, adding: “We are confident that their
struggles will be rewarded and that the Bill will become Law in the near
future.”
The organization also commended members of Nigeria’s National Assembly
for their courageous work on the Freedom of Information Bill so far,
assuring them that Africa’s civil society and the international
community recognized their valiant efforts to entrench democracy in
Nigeria and uplift the lives of their citizens.
|
