EKEDC, ITRealms
gathered had demonstrated failure to comply with FOI Act’s obligations under
the Act since it was passed into Law seven years ago.
MRA’s Programme Manager, Digital
Rights, Ms. Eseohe Ojo, in a press statement made available to ITRealms, stated that as an institution
charged with the provision of a critical public service such as electricity
distribution, the EKEDC ought to understand the importance of accountability
and public access to information and as such should not be found to be refusing
to comply with its obligations under the FOI Act.
The Eko Electricity Distribution Company
came into existence following the passage of the Electric Power Sector Reform
(EPSR) Bill, which was signed into Law on March 11, 2005 by then President
Olusegun Obasanjo. The company caters to the southern part of Lagos State and
Agbara in Ogun State.
Although the company states that it has
zero tolerance for any form of anti-customer practice by any staff and has
empowered its Anti-corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) to thoroughly
investigate all reported cases and apply appropriate sanctions where necessary,
its actions demonstrate a lack of transparency, Ms Ojo said.
She pointed out that many of the
challenges confronting the institution could have been avoided if the EKEDC
complied with the provisions of the FOI Act and had chosen to uphold
transparency and accountability principles.
Ms Ojo noted that an institution such as
the EKEDC that has been plagued by protests in response to eight months of
power outages in some areas; which has suffered up to N1 billion in losses in
three years due to energy theft; has been castigated for its refusal to provide
pre-paid meters to some of its customers; and has had to face an angry public
response over alleged unfair and exorbitant estimated billing system should be
more committed to upholding the values of responsibility, accountability and
integrity.
She said for the seventh consecutive
year, the EKEDC has failed to submit an annual FOI implementation report to the
Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), adding that the institution’s failure
to do so has made it difficult to determine the number of applications for
access to information that the institution has received each year since 2011
and the number of such applications that it processed and granted for any
particular year or overall, if any.
Ms Ojo called on the EKEDC to follow up
on its promises of high standards of ethics and safety as well as
responsibility towards the community and the environment by complying with
provisions of the FOI Act such as proactively publishing the categories of
information directed by Section 2(3) of the Act, which requires every public
institution to proactively publish certain categories of information.
She commended the institution for taking
a step in the right direction by publishing its financial reports for 2014,
2015 and 2016 and dedicating a page on its website to its
operations. She however noted that the EKEDC needed to publish the
16 categories of information required under the Act, contending that the
institution had not even made a dent in the list.
Ms Ojo stressed that although the EKEDC
says on its website that it runs as a regulated business, the FOI Act makes it
clear under Section 2(7) that it is a public institutions, as it describes such
institutions “as all authorities whether executive, legislative, or judicial,
agencies, ministries, and extra-ministerial departments of the
government, together with all corporations established by law and all companies in
which government has a controlling interest, and private companies utilising
public funds, providing public services or performing public functions.”
Identifying other acts of non-compliance
with the FOI Act, she said the EKEDC has failed to publish the title and
address of an appropriate officer to whom applications for information from
members of the public should be sent as mandated by Section 2(3) (f) of the FOI
Act.
Nenye Dom/ED, Ops
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