Rep Abike Dabiri-Erewa (ACN-Lagos) has said that the Freedom of Information Act (FoI) Act is not for seeking personal details of individuals.
Dabiri-Erewa, a proponent and one of the advocates of the law, told newsmen in Abuja on Monday that the law should not be abused by Nigerians in seeking personal vendetta.
The legislator said the clarification became necessary against the background of a recent letter by an Abuja-based lawyer to the personal physician of Gov. RaufAregbesola of Osun requesting details of the medical records of the governor
The lawyer had asked the physician to furnish him with the medical records of the governor within seven days or face legal actions.
Dabiri-Erewacited section 16 (a) of the FoI Act, dealing with medical worker – client exemption, as part of the broad category of issues that are exempt under the Exemption of Professional Privileges and other related matters.
?In the letter, the lawyer claimed that the governor’s actions since he came to power suggested mental instability.
Dabiri-Erewasaid such request amounted to the use of the instrument of the law to promote a personal political agenda.
Describing the letter as an insult to collective intelligence, the legislator said such a request was capable of making Nigerians to lose respect for the law.
She reminded Nigerians how many journalists, lawyers, human rights and pro-democracy activists sacrificed their time, energy and resources to realise the enactment of the law.
?She said using the FoI law as justification to demand for the medical records of a governor amounted to an abuse of the law.
“FoI is not to request for documents that are personal to people. My medical records, just like my account statements are personal.
“Using the Freedom of Information Act as the basis for such request amounts to a total abuse of the FoI law,’’ she said.
Dabiri-Erewasaid that the trend, if allowed to continue, could jeopardise the potency of the law.
She described the lawyer’s request as frivolous, adding that Aregbesola remained one of the best governors currently serving in the country.
“It is pertinent to note that Gov. Aregbesola has exhibited the highest degree of brilliance in his private and public conduct.
?“His administration in Osun state has been initiating commendable programmes and policies, which promise to bail the people out of the many years of retardation.
“How then, can anyone say that his conducts suggest mental instability?
?“We must insist that some people cannot come and rubbish the FoI which all dedicated Nigerians fought for, just because of their selfish political ambitions,” Dabiri-Erewa said.
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