A non-governmental organisation, ActionAid Nigeria says it has trained no fewer than 60 citizens’ groups on the application of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act in demanding accountability from government establishments.
The Programme Manager of the group, Mr Newton Otsemaye, disclosed this on Friday during FOI capacity building and mentorship workshop in Enugu.
The ActionAid boss, Otsemaye said that the training had led to about 23 FOI requests to government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
He attributed the lull in the implementation of the FOI Act that came into force in 2011 to lack of citizens’ engagement.
The programme manager said that the foregoing had led to weak compliance to the dictates of the Act by government establishments.
He, however, said that the citizens needed to increase their knowledge on how to draft an FOI request, adding, “we want to see citizens use the FOI Act to demand accountability from their leaders.”
Otsemaye said that the outcome of the training would help Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to be able to measure the responses from the government on its accountability status.
He said that the fight against corruption knew neither ethnic nor religious sentiments and would only be effective when the demand side of the FOI regime was strong.
The programme manager said that the organisation was at the forefront of training Nigerian citizens to resist corruption.
He said that Nigerians needed to imbibe upright attitude and report corrupt acts irrespective of who was involved.
Otsemaye said that the project was being implemented in six states of the nation, which are Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Enugu, Lagos, Kaduna and Kano.
In an interview, the Executive Director, Divine Era, Development and Social Rights Initiatives, Ms Ogechukwu Enwelum, said that the workshop was on the implementation of the FOI Act.
Enwelum said that it was aimed at building the capacity of journalists and CSOs on the use of the legal instrument.
She said that the quality of governance was bound to improve when citizens participate in the process.
Source: NAN
