The House of Representatives Committee on Information on Tuesday in Abuja urged the media to boost Nigeria’s anti-corruption campaign through effective use of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI).
The committee's Chairman, Alhaji Buba Jibril, made the call at a workshop on the FOI Act organised by the Federal Ministry of Information.
The workshop was organised in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
Jubril said that the act was sufficiently enhanced to make government officials at all levels accountable to Nigerians.
The lawmaker said that the content of the Act primarily emphasised transparency and openness in governance and stressed the need for custodians of public information to cooperate to ensure the successful implementation of the Act.
Jibril, however, warned against abuse of the Act, noting that the law must not be used as a weapon of vendetta by journalists or stakeholders in the system.
“I believe this Act is one singular act that can be used by stakeholders in fighting corruption in Nigeria.
“The Freedom of Information Act must be embraced by all stakeholders, especially government officials for it to serve the purpose for which it was enacted,'' he said.
Earlier, the Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, stressed the need for journalists and other stakeholders to make good use of the provisions of the Act.
He said that the Act was enacted to enable government achieve important programmes, and?restated government's?commitment to democracy and good governance.
Maku said that the media must also be ready to carry out a self appraisal to ensure that the privileges that came with the Act were not abused by practitioners.
He said, “Today, therefore, the responsibility of implementing this law squarely rests on media practitioners.
“The purpose of this workshop, therefore, is to prepare our minds and discuss some of the challenges that this law has presented to us and we also need proper understanding of this law.’’
He said that the full implementation of relevant sections of the law might take time because of the previous orientation of most public institutions and their officials.
The minister was, however, optimistic that with more awareness campaign on the Act, public institutions and officials would be encouraged to embrace it.
“Our attitudes are still undergoing transition, our institutions are still evolving to adopt best practices on democratic governance.
“The long years of military dictatorship had built in the consciousness of many Nigerians and their institutions an attitude that is averse to openness and democratic governance,’’ he said.
Maku commended the National Assembly for the passage of the FOI Act in spite of?the relentless opposition to the enactment of the law.
The President of NUJ, Malam Mohammed Garba, in his good will message decried the low level of awareness about the Act among journalists in the country.
Garba said that the response to the Act by journalists and other stakeholders was poor, adding that only a few persons and groups were making good use of the opportunities provided in the Act.
He said that while many stakeholders had not taken time to assimilate the content of the document, many public office holders were still reluctant to disclose vital public information.
Participants at the workshop are drawn from parastatal agencies of?the Ministry of Information, information units of the various ministries, departments and agencies and journalists from the various media organisations in Nigeria.
The theme of the workshop is “Openness In Governance: The FOI Act, 2012 in perspective’’.
The FOI Act was enacted about 16 months ago by President Goodluck Jonathan. (NAN)