6 December 2006
PRESIDENT URGED TO SIGN ACCESS TO INFORMATION BILL
Nigeria's Senate has unanimously passed a bill that, if signed into law, will guarantee every citizen in the country the right to access government-held information, reports Media Rights Agenda (MRA).
Passed on 15 November 2006, the Freedom of Information Bill had been pending since 1999, when it was first introduced in the lower House of Representatives. Under the bill, anyone who destroys or falsifies public records can be sentenced to jail for up to three years.
The bill's passage in the Senate is a victory for MRA and other civil society organisations that have been campaigning for an access to information law for the past seven years (see http://www.ifex.org/alerts/content/view/full/70935/).
MRA and other civil society organisations are now urging President Olusegun Obasanjo to sign the bill, which requires either his assent or the approval of a two-thirds majority in Parliament for it to become law. If it does, Nigeria will become the fourth African country to have an access to information law. So far, only Angola, South Africa and Uganda have such laws.
Visit these links:
- MRA: http://mediarightsagenda.org/foi.html
- OSI Justice Initiative: http://www.justiceinitiative.org/db/resource2?res_id=103474
- Freedom of Information Advocates Network: http://www.foiadvocates.net/index.php
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