For more than eight times since 2007, the FOI Bill has suffered several deaths in the hands of the Nigerian lawmakers so much that many of them often refer to the bill as Abiku. Up till today the FOI Bill remains the longest bill in the House of Representatives. It has generated so much hatred and bitterness for itself among members who have vowed that the bill will never see the light of the day as long as they are still in the House. But recently, it begins to receive some concern and consideration among the lawmakers who have become the victims or can I say casualty of the lack of freedom of information bill in the country. At the time when the Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi began to deal a deadly blow on the lawmakers who were very close to election time, the Reps find no ally in the media or the Nigerian public who were already tired of National Assembly members. The media was awashed with all sorts of conflicting figures on the percentage of the national Assembly in the 2010 budget; indeed, the National Assembly was thoroughly humiliated on this singular matter. It was at this period that some members began to think that if the FOI Bill had been in place, then the media and indeed the public would have had access to true and correct information about the state of the matter. Some two weeks ago, the Information minister Mr. Labaran Maku called on the lawmakers to as a matter of necessity pass the FOI bill.
But the deed had been done already and the National Assembly was left to lick its wounds alone. However on Thursday last week, the bill resurfaced again in a dramatic way to the chargring of journalists at the gallery and it was number one on the order paper. Some few minutes after 11 o clock, the Speaker of the House Dimeji Bankole appeared at the chamber, took his seat and with less than thirty members on the floor called on the chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business Honourable Ita Enang, to move the motion for the re-committal of the FOI Bill to joint committee on Information and Orientation and Justice for public hearing with the ultimatum to submit the report within seven days. Enang speaking in support of the motion said “we are aware that several members have requested that this motion be brought to rescind the decision and recommit it to the Joint committee for scrutiny since the need has arising for the House to revisit the decision in public interest”. The voice vote received an overwhelming yeah against a lonely nay voice and the yeah have it. Immediately after the vote, Bankole left the chamber and the Deputy Speaker; Bayero Nafada took over the remaining business for the day. But the question still remains on whether the bill will not suffered the same fate of Abiku again when the report is submitted to the House for consideration and debate. Of course one also knows that if the House and especially the leadership is determined to put and en to this matter once and for all it can do it. After all, the NCC 2010 budget with its bogus sim card registration money scaled through amid hue and cries of protesting members. In 2007 the FOI bill was passed but was not sign to law by former President Olusegun Obasanjo because according to officials of the Presidency, “the bill got missing in transit between the National Assembly and the Presidential Villa”. Obasanjo cleverly refused to sign the bill at the tail end of his administration. Again the bill is coming back to the chamber at the tail end of another administration, why not sounding pessimistic on this matter I hope if the bill scales the huddles at the National Assembly it will not be lost in transit again between the Villa and the National Assembly. Honestly as a seasoned media practitioner, I have known no other profession for the past two decades, it will be my joy and indeed the joy of every other members of the fourth estate of the realm to see the FOI Bill sign into law for our generation, the generation to come and the memory of gallant soldiers of journalism who died at the battle front of war for the liberation of this country from the shackle of draconian leaders. The Dele Giwas of this world, the Tayo Awotunsin, my friend Bayo Ohu and many others who had suffered various degree of injuries both emotionally and psychologically and whose blood painted the road to Nigeria’s democracy red. It is true that the media is passionate on the FOI Bill and let me say with due respect to my esteemed readers that we absolutely have no apology for this. As a member of this noble profession I have seen and experienced what it meant not to have access to correct information especially from government quarters. Of course, the bill going by it name is not a media bill, let me go back to the presentation of Ita Enang motion again for the detail of the FOI Bill as captured by the House. Enang noted that the House had on November 14, 2007, by voice vote and pursuant to order XV, Rule 8, committed the Bill for an act to Make Public Record and Information more freely available, provide for public Access to Public Records and information, protect public records and Information to the extent consistent with the public interest and the protection of personal Privacy, protect Serving Public Officials from adverse consequences for disclosing certain kinds of official information without authorisation and establish procedure for the achievement of those purposes and Related purposes thereof, 2007 to the committee of whole for consideration. So help me God who says then that the FOI Bill is a media whereas it seeks the protection of “serving public Officials” and “provide for public access to public records and information as well as protect public record and information to the extent consistent with public interest and protection of personal privacy”. I know the House and indeed the National Assembly has been boxed to corner on this matter and is seeking to redeem its image in whatever way. If however, passing the FOI Bill will be the only or one of the ways the National Assembly members will be able to raise their heads up again and stand tall before Nigerians then so be it.
