Part Two
Advocacy
for the Passage of the Freedom of Information Bill
Introducing the Freedom of Information Bill into the National Assembly
Mediating Problems
Meetings
With Key Officials of the House of
Representatives
Advocacy Targeted at Other Members of
the House of Representatives
Other
Advocacy Efforts and Activities
Media Advocacy
Building Civil Society Support for the Freedom of Information
Bill
The
First and Second Reading of the Freedom of Information
Bill
Study
Tour of the United States and the United Kingdom by Legislators
Advocacy
Work at the
Senate
The Crisis in the National Assembly
and its Effect on the Bill
The
Third Reading of the Freedom of Information Bill
Preparations for
the Public Hearing on the Bill
The Public Hearing on the Freedom of Information Bill
In keeping with
the resolution of participants at the Ota Workshop that a Freedom of
Information Act should be enacted at the earliest possible time, Media
Rights Agenda launched an advocacy programme in mid-1999 to secure the
passage of the bill.
Letters to President Olusegun Obasanjo and
Ministers
Coincidentally, in
his inaugural address on assumption of office on May 29, 1999, President
Olusegun Obasanjo identified corruption as “the greatest single bane of
our society today” and promised that under his administration, “all
rules and regulations designed to help honesty and transparency in
dealing with government will be restored and enforced.”
In addition, shortly after the inauguration of the new government,
President Obasanjo announced his plan to present to the National
Assembly for consideration and enactment into law, an anti-corruption
Bill.
Given this
background, the climate seemed ripe to also introduce the Freedom of
Information bill to the National Assembly. On June 10, 1999, Media
Rights Agenda wrote to President Obasanjo expressing support for his
professed commitment to fight corruption in Nigeria and his plan to
present an anti-corruption Bill to the National Assembly.
MRA observed that
accountability and transparency in Government were crucial to any
meaningful anti-corruption crusade, arguing that accountability and
transparency could not be possible if citizens have no right of access
to information held by the State or its agencies or if no mechanism
exists for giving practical effect to the right to freedom of
information.
It therefore
requested President Obasanjo to also present the draft Freedom of
Information Bill to the National Assembly as an Executive Bill for
consideration along with his anti-corruption bill and support efforts to
secure its enactment into law. The request was borne out of the
organisation’s realisation that Executive bills would usually receive
more serious and urgent consideration from the legislators than private
members’ bills.
The organisation
also wrote letters to the then Minister of Information, Chief Dapo
Sarumi, and the Minister of Justice, Mr Kanu Agabi (SAN), apprising them
of the existence of the bill, its contents and soliciting their support
for its speedy enactment into law.
However, by a letter dated July 19, 1999, signed by his
personal assistant, Mr. Ojo A. Taiwo, President Obasanjo declined to
present the Freedom of Information bill as an Executive bill and,
instead, advised Media Rights Agenda to send the draft directly to the
National Assembly.
Similarly, several months
after its letter to the Justice Minister, on March 29, 2000, Media
Rights Agenda received another letter dated January 20, 2000, from the
Legislative Drafting Department of the Federal Ministry of Justice, in
which reference was made to the organisation’s June 10, 1999 letter to
the President. In the letter signed on behalf of the Federal
Attorney-General and Minister of Justice by Mrs. Christie Ekweonu, she
said that she had been directed to inform Media Rights Agenda “to
properly channel your cause through the Federal Ministry of Information
which is the relevant governmental body that regulates the practice and
dissemination of information. Your case will be duly considered if it
originates from the relevant Ministry.”
Ironically, at the time Media
Rights Agenda received the letter from the Federal Ministry of Justice,
the Freedom of Information bill had already gone through the first and
second readings before the House of Representatives in the National
Assembly and was already being considered in greater detail by the
Information Committee of the House.
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Introducing the Freedom of Information Bill into the National
Assembly
Prior to the receipt of the July 19, 1999 letter from the
President’s office, Media Rights Agenda had began exploring other
avenues for introducing the bill to the National Assembly and had
distributed the draft bill and other relevant documents on Freedom of
Information to numerous human rights groups, other civil society
organizations and a few legislators in the National Assembly.
Following the receipt of the
letter from the President’s assistant, Media Rights Agenda intensified
these efforts.
At an international conference
on “Strengthening Democracy and Good Governance Through Development of
the Media in Nigeria” organized by UNESCO from September 9 to 10, 1999,
at the Ecowas Secretariat in Abuja Mr. Maxwell Kadiri, then a legal
officer at Media Rights Agenda, was invited to make a presentation on
“The Laws and Norms Governing the Press”.
In the course of discussions
on the “Public’s Right to Know and Public Authorities Obligations”, Mr.
Kadiri spoke extensively about the draft Freedom of Information bill and
the immense benefits it holds for both the media and the generality of
the Nigerian populace. The conference was attended by several members of
the House of Representatives, including Honourable Tony Anyanwu and
Honourable Nduka Irabor.
After listening
to Mr. Kadiri’s presentation, Honourable Anyanwu, in subsequent
discussions with him, agreed to act as sponsor of the Freedom of
Information bill at the House of Representatives. He then requested that
a copy of the bill be sent to him, which he would subsequently forward
to the legal drafting unit at the National Assembly for their review and
endorsement. He also advised that the organisation should send copies of
the bill to all the members of both the House of Representatives and the
Senate. Acting on this piece of advice from Honourable Anyanwu, Media
Rights Agenda sent copies of the bill with a covering letter to all the
469 members of the National Assembly.
With this action,
the Freedom of Information bill became the first private member’s bill
to get to the National Assembly after its inauguration and the first
civil society organisation bill to be formally presented to the Federal
Legislature.
From the commencement of the advocacy
efforts to ensure the enactment of the Freedom of Information bill into
law by the National Assembly, Media Rights Agenda found in Honourable
Anyanwu a staunch and tireless supporter of the bill.
Honourable Anyanwu gave generously of
his time and energy to the process of planning and strategising for the
bill’s passage by the National Assembly, including visiting the Lagos
office of Media Rights Agenda to hold discussions with the Executive
Director and other members of staff of the organisation, as well as
giving advice on several occasions which the organisation found very
helpful in trying to secure the support of the legislators for the bill.
It is also because of Honourable
Anyanwu’s advice that Media Rights Agenda was able to tactfully avoid a
major pitfall of including in the bill any provision that would have
made the legislation fall victim to the common trend then in the
National Assembly, which was the rejection of bills on the ground that
having failed the “cost-benefit analysis”, enacting such bills into law
was not justifiable.
Honourable Anyanwu, on his own accord,
also secured the signatures of 23 members of the House of
Representatives cutting across all the parties, endorsing the bill and
its contents, as well as volunteering to be co-sponsors. The legislators
were Bala Kaoje, Sadiq Yar’Adua, Ibrahim G. Abubakar, Farouk Lawan, S.
O. Obande, A.M. Bulkachuwa, Solomon Agidani, Ahmed Hassan, Abdullahi A.
Gumel, P.N. Jiya, Ita Enang, A. Malherbe, Sunny Aguebor, Bello Abubakar,
Usman Alhaji, Celestine Ughanze, Josiah B. Gobum, F.A.U. Okeke, Olabode
Mustapha, Abdullahi Matori, Ibrahim Abdullahi, Nduka Irabor and Victor
Lar.
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Mediating
Problems
Despite the fact
that Media Rights Agenda wrote and sent copies of the bill to each of
all the 469 members of the National Assembly to solicit their support,
the only reaction the organisation got was a telephone call from
Honourable Jerry Ugokwe.
Although this was
initially disappointing, later developments showed that the telephone
call from Honourable Ugokwe would have great significance for further
legislative advocacy activity regarding the Freedom of Information bill
at the National Assembly. In essence, the act of sending copies of the
bill to all legislators had already yielded significant dividend.
Honourable
Ugokwe’s telephone call centred primarily on his concern that the
Freedom of Information bill, which at this time was now being sponsored
in the House of Representatives by Honourable Anyanwu, leading 23 other
co-sponsors, was similar in its essence to another bill that he
(Honourable Ugokwe) was also presenting to the House. Honourable Ugokwe
explained that he had been working independently of the efforts of Media
Rights Agenda and its partners to prepare and present to the House a
bill on Freedom of Information based on his experience in the United
States, where he studied and had lived for many years, of the importance
of a freedom of information legislation.
Media Rights
Agenda then realised that this development was responsible for the delay
in the gazetting of the bill sponsored by Honourable Anyanwu and the
other legislators in the House of Representatives and the lack of
progress of the bill through the legal drafting department of the
National Assembly.
There were
divergent opinions from senior officials within the administrative
structure at the National Assembly on which of the two draft bills
should be cleared for gazetting by the Federal Government printers. The
gazetting of a bill is a crucial stage for any bill entering the
legislative process as all bills being considered by any of the chambers
of the National Assembly must first be gazetted before it can be
presented for the first reading.
In an effort to
resolve this stalemate, a meeting was scheduled between Honourable
Ugokwe and officials of Media Rights Agenda at his Lagos home in Ikoyi.
The meeting was attended by Honourable Ugokwe, Mr Edetaen Ojo, Executive
Director of Media Rights Agenda; Miss Josephine Izuagie, the Vice
Chair; and Mr Kadiri.
The primary focus
of the meeting was how both sides could work together to ensure the
speedy enactment of a Freedom of Information Act by the National
Assembly.
Honourable Ugokwe
gave an account of how his interest in the concept of freedom of
information began since his school days in the United States, where he
was able to access certain information contained in public documents
held by certain institutions in the US government, using the American
Freedom of Information Act.
This development,
according to him, fired his resolve when he returned home, to push for
the enactment of a similar law in Nigeria if he ever got elected into
the National Assembly. It was this desire, which he was now set to
actualise with his draft Freedom of Information bill.
Mr. Ojo leading
the team from Media Rights Agenda, explained that both sides had
basically the same objective – that of ensuring the enactment of a
Freedom of Information Act in Nigeria. He recounted the rich history
behind the civil society movement that was clamouring for the enactment
of a Freedom of Information Act in the country and the extensive
consultations that had gone into the production of a final draft of the
bill. He stressed that this background would give greater legitimacy to
the bill as it would be seen to have emerged through a process of
discussions and debates, which any legislation of such import and
magnitude ought to have.
At the end of the
meeting, both parties exchanged copies of their different drafts of the
bills, with an agreement that they separately study or review the
contents of both documents, identify all areas of similarities and
differences with a view to exploring the possibility of harmonising the
contents of both documents. The objective was to produce a single draft
Freedom of Information bill which would retain the critical areas in
each draft. The meeting adjourned to reconvene a week later at the same
venue.
After a review of
the draft produced by Honourable Ugokwe, it was apparent that it was a
wholesale adoption of the US Freedom of Information Act to the extent of
containing expressions and references to institutions and procedures
that were alien to the Nigerian
legal system and
government structures.
Besides, except
for the provision dealing with the issue of fees to be paid by
applicants requesting for information, which was a lot more elaborate in
Honourable Ugokwe’s draft bill than the provisions contained in the
draft being put forward by Media Rights Agenda, the civil society bill
was clearly more robust in content and more relevant to the needs of
the local Nigerian environment, apparently because it was “home
grown”.
At two subsequent
meetings, where MRA’s team was led by Miss Izuagie, in the absence of Mr
Ojo, it was fairly easy to convince Honourable Ugokwe of this fact and
to secure his agreement to work with Media Rights Agenda. The final bill
that emerged from the harmonisation discussions between both parties was
essentially a retention of the original civil society draft which
included the more elaborate provisions relating to fees payable by
applicants originally contained in Honourable Ugokwe’s draft bill.
Despite this
resolution, the bill was shortly after again enmeshed in another round
of controversy, this time concerning who was to be the lead sponsor of
the new “consensus” bill. Unfortunately, Media Rights Agenda was not
aware of this development for a long time as none of the two parties
involved, i.e. Honourable Anyanwu and Honourable Ugokwe, informed
officials of Media Rights Agenda about this issue.
In the course of
trying to ensure that the bill was quickly gazetted and listed in the
order paper of the House of Representatives for consideration, officials
of Media Rights Agenda had paid a series of advocacy visits to the
National Assembly and developed a rapport with both legislators and
members of the administrative staff of the House of Representatives. It
was in the course of one of such advocacy visits that MRA became aware
of this fresh stalemate.
The then Deputy
Clerk of the House of Representatives, Mr Yemi Ogunyomi, who had
developed a close working relationship with officials from Media Rights
Agenda, revealed the reason for the lack of progress of the bill and
suggested that MRA should organise a fence-mending meeting between the
principal actors to the stalemate to resolve the issue so that progress
could be made.
Mr. Ogunyomi
subsequently assisted in arranging the meeting, which took place in his
office at the National Assembly complex in Abuja, and facilitated the
attendance of Honourable Nduka Irabor, and Honourable Ugokwe. Although
Honourable Anyanwu was unable to attend the meeting, Honourable Irabor
promised to communicate the decision of the meeting to him and prevail
on him to abide by it. The meeting was also attended on MRA’s side by
Mr. Ojo, Miss Izuagie and Mr. Kadiri.
It was agreed at
the meeting that there should be three lead sponsors for the bill,
namely Honourable Ugokwe, Honourable Anyanwu and Honourable Irabor. It
was also agreed that whatever misgivings had previously existed between
Honourable Anyanwu and Honourable Ugokwe regarding who takes precedence
over the other as the lead sponsor of the bill, should be laid to rest.
Honourable Irabor promised to ensure that the problem was permanently
resolved. He also promised to deploy his vast media experience to see
that the bill had a smooth ride through the National Assembly.
Following the
successful resolution of the problem, activities geared towards ensuring
the enactment of the bill into law took on renewed vigour. With the
support of Mr. Ogunyomi, the gazetting of the bill was done speedily and
it was published in Federal Government’s Official Gazette, No. 91,
Volume 86.
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Meetings With Key Officials of the
House of Representatives
An important
starting point for members of Media Rights Agenda in the advocacy for
the Freedom of Information bill was to meet with key officers of the
House of Representatives.
On December 1,
1999, Mr. Ojo led a three-person delegation from Media Rights Agenda,
comprising Miss Izuagie and Mr. Kadiri, on a courtesy visit to the
National Assembly to meet with principal officers of the House of
Representatives and solicit their support for the bill. As the Speaker
Honourable Umar Ghali Na’Abba, was then out of the country, the
delegation had a formal meeting with the Acting Speaker, Honourable
Chibudom Nwuche, and scores of other influential members of the House.
Other members of the House in attendance included Honourable Anyanwu and
Honourable Irabor (two of the three sponsors of the bill), Honourable
Chidi Duru, Honourable Mao Ohuabunwa and Honourable Samuel Onazi Obande.
Mr. Ojo told the
Acting Speaker and other members of the House present at the meeting
that they were in Abuja to solicit the support of members of the House
for the enactment of the bill, which was already before the House.He
said MRA and its other partners were keenly interested in the Bill as
they believe that it will aid transparency and accountability in
government as well as ensure public participation in the political
process.
Mr. Ojo noted that the Executive arm of the Federal Government had
repeatedly stated its commitment to these principles and the passage of
the bill would facilitate the actualisation of this commitment.
He said the idea of a Freedom of Information Act appeared to enjoy
popular support although there had been a little apprehension expressed
about what use the media would put such an Act to.
But Mr. Ojo argued that such apprehension was unjustified as the
proposed Act was not primarily for the media, but for the society at
large, especially at a period when the Government was talking about
transparency and accountability, anti-corruption and political
participation.
Besides, he said, studies worldwide had shown that the parliamentarians
in different countries around the world, which have freedom of
information laws, put them to use far more than the media as it provides
them with an additional avenue for getting information about the
activities of the Executive arm of government.
He presented the Acting Speaker with documents outlining the
international guiding principles of freedom of information laws and
MRA’s interest in the bill.
Responding, Honourable Nwuche said the bill could not have come at a
more timely moment and promised that it would be passed into law within
the shortest time possible. He
said the House was committed to promoting transparency and
accountability in governance and that although members of the House
already have unlimited access to government-held information, they
wanted to make this benefit available to the generality of Nigerians,
whose right it is to also enjoy the prerogative of access to
government-held information to enable them play a meaningful role in
upholding and entrenching democratic principles.
Later that day, Media Rights Agenda also sought the permission of the
Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Honourable Uche Maduako,
to meet formally with him and members of the Committee, during their
meeting, which was scheduled for that same day. Honourable Maduako
initially agreed, however when the MRA delegation sought to brief the
members during the meeting, some of them objected on the ground that it
was inappropriate for the MRA officials to attend that particular
meeting of the Committee because, according to them, the notice given to
the Committee through the Chairman was too short.
They therefore
suggested that Media Rights Agenda should make a formal application to
the Committee to meet with it after which a date for the meeting would
be communicated to the organisation.
The rationale
behind the attempt to meet with the Information Committee members ahead
of when the bill is eventually referred to them by the entire House, was
based on the need to provide a soft landing for the bill, by already
explaining the content to the committee members as well as responding to
any questions that the members might have, including providing
clarification on any grey areas where necessary. However, although the
meeting could not take place, the attempt had not been a waste of time
as it provided a linkage for future interaction between the Information
Committee members and officials of Media Rights Agenda. This linkage
proved useful when the Committee of the whole House eventually referred
the bill to the Information Committee.
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Advocacy Targeted at
Other Members of the House of Representatives
Representatives of
Media Rights Agenda carried out numerous advocacy visits to the National
Assembly for several months meeting with individual members of the House
of Representatives and later the Senate.
In the main, the
advocacy visits were in the form of door-to-door enlightenment campaigns
targeted at members of the House of Representatives, both in their
offices in the National Assembly in Abuja and in some other parts of the
country, and at their homes in the Apo Legislative Quarters in Abuja.
This exercise gave MRA officials the opportunity to interact with as
many of the legislators, as possible, on the issue of the bill and to
address whatever concerns or reservations they had.
Building on this
strong rapport which Media Rights Agenda had established with members of
the House, representatives of the organisation held discussions with
officials of both the Rules and Business Committee of the House, which
was then chaired by Honourable Musa Elayo (who is now the Minister of
State in the Federal Ministry of Justice) and the then Deputy Clerk of
the House of Representatives, Mr Ogunyomi, to facilitate a speedy
scheduling of the bill for its first and second reading. This helped in
a large measure in ensuring that the initial hearings on the bill were
done timeously.
After undertaking
several advocacy visits to the National Assembly, MRA realised that it
would be extremely difficult to meet with all the members of the
National Assembly through such one on one meetings especially because
the window for such meetings was often very narrow as members usually
had series of other engagements during intervals between their sitting
period at the National Assembly and the period they left for home or
other activities.
There was, thus,
the need to devise ways of meeting with a large number of the members in
one venue to plead the cause of the bill.
Besides, in the
course of some of the one on one discussions with the legislators, there
were veiled hints on the need to embark on “financial lobbying”. Media
Rights Agenda had neither the resources nor the inclination to go down
this route. But it faced a serious dilemma as the first reading of bill
was fast approaching and not much ground had been covered in terms of
having effective one on one discussions with a large majority of the
members of the House.
In trying to
navigate this problem, Honourable Ugokwe then advised that the
organisation should consider organising a function for all the
legislators at which issues concerning the bill would be discussed in a
relaxed and informal environment.
Acting on this
advice and ahead of the scheduling of the bill for first reading, Media
Rights Agenda, with support from ARTICLE 19, organised a cocktail
reception for members of the House of Representatives. The event took
place in the evening of February 16, 2000 at the Ladi Kwali Hall of the
Abuja Sheraton Hotel and Towers. It was attended by about 250
legislators, led by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Honourable Nwuche, who was the special guest of honour. Present to
receive their colleagues at the event were two of the lead sponsors of
the bill, Honourable Anyanwu and Honourable Ugokwe, as well as the then
Chair of the Information Committee, Honourable Maduako.
The team from
Media Rights Agenda was led by Mr Tunde Fagbohunlu, the Director of
Legal Services. Other members of the team included two Executive
Committee members, Miss Izuagie and Mr Austin Agbonsuremi, as well as
three staff members: Mr. Osaro Odemwingie, Publications Officer; Miss
Adeola Ademola and Mr. Kadiri, both legal officers.
The event lasted
for about two hours and provided a highly interactive platform for the
legislators and MRA personnel to discuss issues relevant to the bill and
its enactment. Representatives of Media Rights Agenda used the occasion
to further explain the principles behind the bill and to impress on the
legislators the need for its speedy passage.
In a welcome
address, Mr. Fagbohunlu said Media Rights Agenda was proud of the
working relationship it had established with the legislators on the
project. He expressed the hope that the bill will eventually get the
endorsement of the House.
In his speech at
the occasion, Hon. Maduako pledged the Information Committee’s
commitment to ensuring transparency and accountability in governance and
its members’ belief in the indispensability of access to government
information in achieving these objectives. He assured the gathering that
members of the House were favourably disposed towards the bill.
Honourable Anyanwu also made a commitment to continue to work towards
the enactment of the bill, saying that his commitment was informed by a
personal desire to promote accountability and a belief that the media is
best placed to ensure this.
Other speakers at the event agreed that accountability in governance
could not be guaranteed in the absence of a freedom of information
regime and therefore pledge unflinching support for the enactment of the
bill into law.
Thereafter, the
legislators and MRA representatives present broke into small informal
groups where further discussions on issues in the bill went on as the
reception progressed.
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Other Advocacy Efforts and Activities
Seminar on the
‘Freedom of Information Act in Nigeria’
The Seminar on the Freedom of Information Act in Nigeria was organized
by the Media For Democracy (MFD) project, comprising Media Rights
Agenda, the Independent Journalism Centre (IJC), Journalists for
Democratic Rights (JODER) and the International Press Centre (IPC), in
conjunction with the Nigeria Union of Journalists. The Seminar was held
from
December 16 to 18,
1999 at the Gombe Jewel Hotel in Kaduna.
The objective of the
seminar was to facilitate a better understanding of the content of the
bill by journalists who would be among the principal users and seek,
through them, to engender greater public awareness of the bill and the
relevant issues. It was also aimed at emphasizing the overall importance
of the bill to civil society and how it could promote transparency and
accountability and contribute to the overall development of the country.
The participants were mainly journalists from print and broadcast media
houses in the northern part of Nigeria. In all, 22 journalists attended
the seminar which had eight sessions of paper presentation, lectures and
group discussions. Topics and issues addressed at the seminar ranged from
the theoretical, analytical to the professional. The various sessions were
facilitated by lawyers, journalists and member of the National Assembly.
In a resolution at
the end of the seminar,
the participants
commended the Media For Democracy group for organizing the seminar and
also praised members of the National Assembly, particularly the sponsors
of the bill in the House of Representatives, for their interest and
support for the Bill.
The participants
noted that
They observed that the Code of Conduct for Ministers issued by President
Obasanjo to members of his Cabinet as well as the Code of Conduct for
Public Officers contained in the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution
would be meaningless and unenforceable if citizens have no right of access
to information held by the State or its agencies and if no mechanism
exists for giving practical effect to the right of freedom of information.
They argued that all over the world, a strong feature of a responsible and
responsive government is its ability to enable the citizens and interested
individuals to know the happenings in government and that information is
not just a necessity, but an essential part of good governance.
They asked that Nigerians should put pressure on the National Assembly and
the Federal Government to enact a Freedom of Information Act by asking
legislators to support the bill and by prevailing on President Obasanjo to
give his assent to the bill when it comes to him for signature, as a mark
of his administration’s commitment to transparency and accountability in
governance.
The participants
noted that the Nigerian press has an important role to play in ensuring
that the bill is passed into law by enlightening the government and
members of the public on its relevance to the sustenance of the various
democratic structures. They also asked the press to ensure the enactment
of the bill by focusing on the issues involved in order to generate the
necessary public opinion which will further pressurize members of the
National Assembly into supporting the bill and passing it into law.
World Press
Freedom Day Workshop on Freedom of Information Act
On May 3, 2000, Media Rights Agenda organized a workshop on
the Freedom of Information Act in Nigeria, in collaboration with the
United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Lagos, the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and
the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Channel 10.
The one day
workshop, which was held as part of activities to mark that year’s World
Press Freedom Day, took place at the Peninsula Resort Centre, Ajah, in
Lagos State.
The principal
objective of the workshop was to formulate a plan of action to push for
the enactment of the Freedom of Information bill and the outcome was
expected to give impetus to the campaign to sensitize legislators and
concerned citizens in Nigeria that peace and security can only be built
through legal instruments that ensure transparency and accountability in
governance.
About 72 participants representing UN agencies in Nigeria, the media, the
legal profession, human rights organizations, the Legislature, the
Judiciary, academic institutions and international human rights
organizations attended the workshop.
The brief opening ceremony was chaired by Mr. Lanre Arogundade,
Co-ordinator of the International Press Centre in Lagos. He was supported
by Mr. Finjap Njinga, Director of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC);
Mr. Emmanuel Apea, UNESCO Director; Mr. Tive Denedo, Acting Executive
Director of Media Rights Agenda; Mr. Mohammed Sani Umar, Chief Public
Affairs Officer of the National Human Rights Commission; Honourable
Ajishola Owoseni, Chairman of Olorunda Local Government Council in Osun
State, and Mrs. Dupe Ajayi-Gbadebo, a veteran journalist.
In a welcome
address, Mr. Denedo, reminded participants of the burden that secrecy has
foisted on the nation, saying that one way of guaranteeing the development
of the country is for the government to be transparent, open and
accountable through the enactment and implementation of the Freedom of
Information Act.
In his remarks, Mr.
Njinga said African States and governments should be encouraged to enact
and enforce national laws that ensure transparency. He said the UN
supports efforts of the media to consolidate the positive changes taking
place on the continent and would encourage genuine intervention to promote
divergent views in the compressed global village.
In a joint statement
by Mr. Kofi Annan, UN Secretary–General; Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, the
Director-General of UNESCO; and Mrs. Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights, which was read by Mr. Apea, the UN officials noted the
relevance of press freedom to transparency, good governance and the rule
of law. They asked all states to ratify the relevant international human
rights instruments and scrutinise their domestic legal systems with a view
to bringing them in line with international standards governing the right
to freedom of opinion and expression.
The participants rose from the workshop
with a 10-point communiqué and an eight point plan of action that should
improve the advocacy efforts for the enactment of the bill into law.
Advocacy Visits to
Government Departments by the National Human Rights Commission
In March 2003, the National Human Rights
Commission, working with representatives of civil society organisations,
also carried out advocacy visits to key Federal Government departments and
agencies in Abuja asking them to support the passage of the bill into law.
The weeklong
programme of advocacy visits embarked upon by the Commission began on
March 24, with a visit to the management of the National Orientation
Agency (NOA).
Mr. Tony Iredia, the
Director-General of the Agency and his team of executive directors
received members of the advocacy team, led by the Executive Secretary of
the National Human Rights Commission, Mr. Bukhari Bello; and which
included MRA’s Maxwell Kadiri; Mr. Mike Aruleba of the African Independent
Television and RayPower Radio; Mr. Eze Anaba, Deputy News Editor of the
Vanguard newspaper and a board member of MRA; Mr. Wale Fapohunda,
managing partner of the Legal Resources Consortium; and Mr. Tony Ojukwu,
also of the Commission.
Mr. Bello told the
NOA officials that the advocacy team was at the Agency to solicit their
support for the passage of the bill and expressed the hope that they would
use their medium to disseminate information on the bill and sensitise the
Executive, members of the National Assembly and the generality of
Nigerians on the need for the bill to be passed into law.
This, he said, would
facilitate the realization of the country’s dream of having a
corruption-free society, where qualitative governance reigns.
Responding, Mr.
Iredia pledged the support of his Agency in seeing to the realization of
the objective and offered the services of the Agency’s officers in all the
local government areas of the country to assist in disseminating the
message contained in the bill to Nigerians all over the country.
The advocacy visits
continued the next day when the team met with officials of the
Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria (BON), the Voice of Nigeria (VON);
and the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation.
They were received
by the Executive Secretary of BON, Mr. Osita Nweke, other top officials of
VON and the Ministry of Information who expressed strong support for the
initiative on the bill and pledged their willingness to assist in ensuring
that the present National Assembly passes the bill into law.
A roundtable
discussion session with the public sector on the bill was held on March
26. Those in attendance included Mrs. Maryam Uwais, a lawyer and wife of
the Chief Justice of the Federation; Dr. Nana Tanko, country coordinator
for the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA); Mr. Godwin Omole,
Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Press Council, and Mr. Bello.
Mr. Kadiri presented
a lead paper for discussion at the roundtable session which centred on the
theme: “The Context and Content of the Freedom of Information Bill, Which
Way Forward.” The presentation was then followed by a panel discussion.
The advocacy visits
continued on March 27, when the team met with the Attorney General of the
Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Kanu Agabi (SAN), as well as
officials of the Federal Ministry of External Affairs.
At both meetings,
the officials said they appreciated the need for the bill and expressed
their support for it. They, however, expressed some reservation about what
they called the “wide powers” given by the bill to the media, whose
conduct, they claimed, had not been above reproach.
Members of the
advocacy team explained to them that the bill was not for the media alone
but for the generality of Nigerians, arguing that it was crucial for the
nation’s emancipation from the shackles of corruption and other
corruption-related vices.
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Freedom of Information Coalition Meeting with
Editors and Political Correspondents
In March 2003, the Freedom of
Information Coalition launched a new phase in its campaign to secure the
enactment of the bill into law by seeking to introduce the issue into the
electioneering campaigns.
Members of the Coalition met in Lagos
firstly with editors from the print and broadcast media and subsequently
with political correspondents, soliciting their assistance in making the
enactment of the bill an electoral campaign issue.
The meetings with editors and political
correspondents were organized in the context of the electioneering
campaigns towards the 2003 general elections. The main purpose of the
meetings was to solicit the support of journalists in ensuring that
politicians contesting elections into various offices were required to
make public statements on their position on the twin issues of
transparency and accountability in government, and also make a commitment
to support the efforts to enact the Freedom of Information bill into law.
The meeting with
the editors was organized
by MRA, on behalf of the Coalition, in collaboration with the Nigerian
Guild of Editors (NGE), one of the
earliest bodies to endorse
the campaign for the freedom of information law in Nigeria. It was held
at the Lagos Airport Hotel in Ikeja.
The meeting was
attended by the President of the NGE, Mrs. Remi Oyo, and editors from some
major media establishments. Members of the Coalition present included Mr.
Ojo; Mr. Sola Isola, Executive Director of the Independent Journalism
Centre (IJC); Mr. Lanre Arogundade, Coordinator of the International Press
Centre (IPC); and Mr. Osaro Odemwingie, Coordinator of the Freedom of
Information Coalition.
In an opening
address, Mr. Ojo informed the participants that the meeting was
necessitated by the need to continue to mobilize support for the enactment
of the bill. Tracing its history, he explained that it was one of the
very first bills to be sent to the National Assembly at the inception of
this government and expressed disappointment at the failure of the
National Assembly to pass it after nearly four years, despite the
widespread public support for it.
He requested the
editors to consider impressing it on their political correspondents and
reporters to constantly ask politicians to state their positions on the
issue of access to public record, which is at the heart of accountability
and transparency. He noted that in this way, politicians would be
sensitized to the existence of the bill and forced to make a commitment to
support efforts towards its passage when they assume office.
In her address, Mrs.
Oyo noted that the Guild was very much in support of the advocacy for the
enactment of the bill into law, explaining that the support of the Guild
stemmed from its belief that a Freedom of Information regime will not only
serve to strengthen the media, but would also help in consolidating
Nigeria’s democracy.
Following
discussions at the meeting, a 17-point agreement was reached by the
participants on how to further the campaign for the enactment of the Bill
into law.
Some of the
agreements include that more professional bodies and associations cutting
across all sectors of the society should be encouraged to become involved
in the campaign for the enactment of the bill and possibly join the
coalition; that journalists would make it a point of duty to use every
opportunity to ask politicians to state their positions on the issue of
transparency and accountability in government in general and specifically
on the enactment of the bill into law.
The meeting with
political editors and correspondents, held at the Lagos Travel Inn in
Ikeja, followed a similar pattern.
The meeting was
attended by scores of political correspondents and reporters from some
major media establishments. Members of the Coalition present also included
Mr. Ojo, Mr. Isola, Mr. Arogundade, Mr. Odemwingie; and Ms. Lilian
Ekeanyanwu, National Coordinator of the Zero Corruption Coalition (ZCC)
Mr. Ojo observed
that although it took the National Assembly less than three months to
initiate and conclude a process of drafting and passing a new Independent
Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act to replace the existing
one, the same National Assembly had neglected for nearly four years to
pass the Freedom of Information Bill despite the public support for it.
He explained the
efforts so far made to secure the enactment of the bill into law and
requested the political correspondents and reporters to constantly ask
politicians to state their positions on the issue of access to public
record.
At the end of the
meeting, many of the journalist participants made commitments to work
towards the enactment of the bill into law. A 17-point agreement was also
reached, many of them similar to those reached at the meeting with
editors.
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to Top
Freedom of Information Coalition Letters to the 30 Political
Parties
The Freedom of Information Coalition,
acting through its secretariat at Media Rights Agenda, wrote to the
chairmen and secretaries of all the political parties as well as their
presidential candidates early in April 2003 asking them to make the
campaign to secure the right of Nigerians to have access to public records
and information a cardinal policy of their parties and asking them to
support the enactment of the Freedom of Information bill into law
The letters, signed
by MRA’s Executive Director, Mr. Ojo, explained that the Coalition
believed that the existence of such a legislation was crucial to
entrenching a culture of transparency and accountability in government and
in ensuring effective public participation in the democratic process.
He expressed the
hope that the party officials and their presidential candidates would work
towards ensuring that the right of Nigerians to have access to public
records and information becomes a cardinal policy of their parties and
that they would make a clear and unequivocal commitment to support the
enactment of the Bill into law.
MRA also provided
the parties and their candidates with materials on access to information,
including copies of the bill, a series of documents giving background
information to the bill and a document entitled “The Public’s Right to
Know”, published by ARTICLE 19, which sets out the ways in which
governments can achieve maximum openness in line with the best
international standards and practices.
Mr. Ojo urged them
to share the information and documents with other members of their
parties.
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Media Advocacy
Media campaigns have been a
crucial aspect of the advocacy programme. They include visits to media
houses to meet with journalists, editors and columnists to solicit support
for the campaign through the publication of articles, editorial comments
and stories on the freedom of information issue; issuing periodic press
releases to highlight developments on the issues; granting of press
interviews on the issue; facilitating publication of feature stories and
opinion articles. Media Rights Agenda produced briefing packs for
journalists containing materials and information about the bill and
freedom of information issues generally.
As a result of these efforts, several newspapers have
published editorial comments in support of the bill. Others have published
news and feature articles, opinion articles, and other reports on the
bill. The text of the bill has also been published in full in several
newspapers as paid advertisements in order to ensure widespread awareness
about the bill and its content.
Apart from scores of
articles on the Bill that have appeared in many newspapers and magazines,
there has also been an impressive use of the broadcast media to sensitise
the Nigerian people on the bill and the principles behind it.
Many radio and
television stations have held numerous discussion and other programmes
where guests have appeared to promote the Bill and explain the principles
behind it.
Some of the
broadcast station in which MRA personnel, collaborating partners and other
guests have appeared to promote the bill and explain its principles
include the African Independent Television (AIT) both in Lagos and Abuja,
in its Kaakaki programme, a popular breakfast programme; the sister radio
stations, RayPower 1 and 2, Minaj Broadcasting International television (MBI),
the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Channel 10 in its Morning Ride
programme, another breakfast programme; the Federal Radio Corporation of
Nigeria in Kaduna; the NTA in Kaduna; Murhi International Television (MiTV)
in Lagos; Radio Lagos, Degue Broadcasting Network (DBN) television in
Lagos, Channels Television in Lagos, etc.
The primary purpose of the media campaigns has been to keep the issue
alive in the public domain and create a ground swell of public opinion in
favour of a regime of access to information to act as a further pressure
for legislative action by the National Assembly.
However, a
major challenge in the media advocacy programme has been how to sustain
media interest on the issue having regard to the nature of the media which
has a tendency to lose interest in an issue once it has been reported a
few times. This challenge was heightened in periods when there were no
developments on the bill within the National Assembly or when there was a
lull in other advocacy activities. During such periods, the media found
it difficult to publish anything on the bill, as it did not want to be
merely repeating previous news items.
This problem was of
critical importance because regardless of all other strategies that could
be adopted to spread the word about the bill, the fact remained that as a
means of mass communication, the media was still the most effective tool
for reaching the widest number of people.
In its consultations
with journalists and other partners in the campaign for the enactment of
the bill, Media Rights Agenda constantly sought advice on the issue.
Various strategies were proposed including suggestions that further
workshops and seminars should be organized for journalists, especially
those from outside Lagos, so that they can be better educated and
enlightened about the bill and the philosophy behind it; those campaigning
for the enactment of the bill should regularly pay courtesy visits to
various newspapers and magazines to meet with their editorial boards to
discuss the bill with them and to appeal to them to focus on the bill in
their columns.
.
Other suggestions
were that Media Rights Agenda should liaise with members of the Newspapers
Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) to request them to donate space
in their newspapers and magazines for messages on the bill urging the
National Assembly to pass it; initiating a signature collection campaign
targeted at journalists in addition to members of the society who support
the passage of the bill; and formation of a body charged with coordinating
the effort to popularize the bill among journalists.
While some of the
suggestions achieved some results or had such potential, others could only
bring very limited success despite the cost of undertaking them. For
instance, given the huge number of journalists in Nigeria, it was not
feasible to attempt to reach a sizeable number of journalists through
seminars and workshops, which would in any event, be very expensive to
organize. The challenge therefore remains a live one.
Back to Top
Production
and Dissemination of Campaign Materials on Freedom of Information
In August 2000, with
funding support from the International Human Rights Law Group, Media
Rights Agenda printed campaign materials aimed at creating awareness and
soliciting public support for the Freedom of Information Bill. MRA
printed 30,000 colour posters, 50,000 handbills titled: “What You Should
Know About the Freedom of Information Bill”, and 4,000 copies each of
three different types of colour stickers.
The posters
contained messages promoting the values and benefits of an open and
transparent government to the democratic process and the economy. The
handbills gave highlights of the bill, explaining in more detail its
content, purpose and benefits. It contained information about the bill
such as “What is the Freedom of Information Bill?” “Current State of
Access to Information in Nigeria”, ‘Benefits of the Freedom of Information
Bill”, “Who Can Benefit?” “How Can Nigerians Support the Bill?” etc. It
provided contact information for members of the National Assembly,
advising members of the public to write to their representatives in the
National Assembly or telephone them with a request that they pass the
bill. The stickers contained messages of support for the bill and
transparency in governance generally.
The materials were
distributed in major cities in south-eastern, south western and the
northern part of the country.
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