Media Rights Agenda’s (MRA) Programme Officer, Ms Ayomide Eweje, has called for a gender-responsive approach to the implementation of Nigeria’s Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011, arguing that equal legal rights on paper do not automatically translate into equal access for men and women in practice
Speaking on the “Gender Dimension of Freedom of Information Implementation” during a multi-stakeholder conference organised by MRA and the International Press Centre (IPC) in Lagos, on September 28, 2026, to commemorate the 2026 International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI), Ms Eweje said many factors could affect people’s ability to exercise their right to information effectively.
Noting that such factors include gender, digital access, location, income, education, disability, and age, she stressed that examining these factors was necessary to ensure that the existing right to information was exercisable, relevant, effective and meaningful for different groups.
“The FOI Act gives people a general right to access information held by public institutions. The Act does not restrict this right on the basis of gender. However, having the same legal right does not necessarily mean everyone can exercise it equally,” she said.
Ms Eweje explained that a gender-responsive approach to FOI implementation did not mean creating a separate information access system for women. Rather, it required examining whether gender-related differences in society affected people’s ability to exercise their existing right to information.
She identified four key questions for consideration, such as who can access information, who knows about the right to information, who can effectively make and pursue an FOI request, and whether information held by public institutions was being stored and provided in ways that responded to the needs of different groups.
“Gender-responsive FOI implementation is not about giving women more rights than men. It is about identifying and addressing factors that may prevent people from exercising an existing right equally,” she said.
Ms Eweje noted that access to information was an “enabler right” that could support women’s economic empowerment, protection from violence, education, health, and political participation.
She said access to information in Nigeria was influenced by more than the formal existence of a legal right, highlighting differences in digital access, literacy, location, income, and access to communication channels. “The issue is not simply whether government information is technically available online. It is also: Can the people who need the information actually reach it, understand it, and use it?” she asked.
She observed that national data specifically measuring women’s use of the FOI Act remains limited. She referenced efforts by organisations such as HumAngle, which in 2024 launched an FOI platform and organised an all-women roundtable in Abuja to address the gender gap in FOI use.
She said recommendations from the roundtable included increasing awareness of the FOI Act, using local languages, expanding the use of radio and other accessible media, increasing institutional support, integrating FOI into existing accountability initiatives and strengthening implementation of the Act.
Ms Eweje, however, cautioned against interpreting the available evidence as proof that Nigerian women generally do not use the FOI Act.
“This is not national evidence that Nigerian women generally do not use FOI. However, the absence of national gender-disaggregated FOI-use data is itself an important issue for discussion,” she said.
She identified limited awareness, digital access and literacy, language and communication barriers, lack of trust in public institutions, the cost and time involved in following up on requests, institutional barriers, and cultural norms as factors that could affect women’s ability to use the FOI Act effectively.
Ms Eweje identified gender-specific information needs in areas such as health, education, economic opportunities, gender-based violence, public spending, political participation and public decision-making. “FOI can be used not only to obtain information about individual programmes, but also to demand information that allows citizens to assess whether public policies are reaching different groups,” she said.
She called on public institutions to recognise their responsibilities beyond responding to FOI requests, noting that institutions have responsibilities relating to the recording, organisation, and publication of information for public access.
According to her, gender-responsive implementation should include collecting relevant data, disaggregating information, strengthening proactive disclosure, making information accessible, building the capacity of FOI desk officers, and using information to identify gaps.
“The aim is not to treat women as a special category of FOI applicants. It is to ensure that public information systems do not reinforce existing inequalities in access to information,” she said.
Ms Eweje recommended that public institutions increase awareness of access to information rights, simplify request procedures, improve proactive disclosure, publish relevant gender-disaggregated data, provide multiple access channels, use accessible communication, train their FOI officers, and strengthen record management.
She also urged civil society organisations to train women and community organisations on access to information, make strategic FOI requests to identify information gaps affecting women, monitor institutional responses, and use information obtained through FOI for advocacy and accountability.
For journalists, she recommended requesting gender-disaggregated data where relevant, investigating public spending on programmes affecting women, using FOI requests to examine implementation rather than relying solely on government announcements, explaining FOI procedures in simple terms, and reporting on information gaps and non-compliance with FOI obligations.
Ms Eweje said the gender dimension of FOI implementation was ultimately about ensuring that the existing right to information could be exercised more equitably.
“The gender dimension of FOI implementation is therefore not about creating a different right to information. It is about making the existing right more accessible, inclusive, relevant, and effective for everyone,” she said.
