The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has inducted
the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) into its
Freedom of Information (FOI) Hall of Shame, reports ITRealms.
FMARD, ITRealms
gathered was indicted for failure to implement the FOI Act 2011 and its
“unjustifiable assault on the rights of citizens to demand information from
public institutions.”
MRA’s Legal Officer,
Ms Chioma Nwaodike informed ITRealms,
that the Ministry was not only in complete breach of all its obligations under
the FOI Act, but had also exhibited an inexcusable intolerance for the rights
of citizens and civic groups to hold public institutions accountable in
accordance with the Law.
FMARD, ITRealms reports, is charged with
performing regulatory functions in the areas of agricultural research,
agriculture and natural resources, forestry and veterinary research all over
Nigeria, thus the supervisory ministry for some 46 Federal parastatals across the country, made up of 13
agencies, 17 agricultural research institutes and 16 Federal Colleges of
Agricultural Education.
“The question that
comes to mind is how a regulatory institution, primarily funded by the Federal
Government, which claims to focus on measures to maximize the full participation
of stakeholders in its activities, including farmer’s associations,
cooperatives, NGOs, CBOs, CSOs, development partners and the private sector,
canwillfully and persistently
refuse to comply with its statutory duties and obligations under the FOI Act, a
key instrument that can facilitate and enhance such stakeholder participation
and inclusiveness,” she said.
Nwaodike observed that
despite the Ministry’s admission that it is primarily funded by the Federal
Government, it is not known to have responded positively to any FOI request
made to it, including a number of requests by civil society organizations such
as the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) and the Public and Private Development Centre
(PPDC).
On the contrary Ms
Nwaodike recounted, on July 24, 2016, the Ministry, through the office of its
Minister, Chief
Audu Ogbeh, launched an
unwarranted and scathing public attack against the CSJ for exercising its
rights under the FOI Act.
The
CSJ had written to the Minister, Chief Audu Ogbeh, under the FOI Act, asking
him to release details and a copy of a N25 billion egg production contract he
signed with Tuns Farms Nigeria Limited, information on how Tuns Farms Nigeria
Limited was selected for the contract, and if the contract was advertised in
any newspaper in compliance with the provisions of Public Procurement Act, a
request which was ignored.
Following the
Minister’s refusal to respond to the request or provide the information sought
by CSJ, the organization filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, in
accordance with the provisions of the FOI Act, seeking to compel the Minister
to provide it with the information requested.
The Minister’s office
thereupon issued a statement on July 24, 2016, evidencing its contempt for the
rights of citizens to seek information under the FOI Act, asking Nigerians to
disregard the “outbursts
of a group acting under the pretext of fighting in public interest by trying to
sue the Honourable Minister.”
Describing
the CSJ, which is a registered and highly respected civil society organization
in Nigeria, as “the self-styled civil rights group, that addressed itself as
Centre for Social Justice”, the Minister’s office said “the group, acting on
mere imagination and insinuation, without any fact check, is seeking to ask the
Minister to release details and copy of the N25bn contract he signed with Tuns
Farms Nigeria Limited.”
For
its audacity in exercising its right to seek information under the FOI Act, the
Minister’s office described the CSJ as “a mechanism for distraction to bring
discontent against the laudable initiative of the Honourable Minister who
understands the problems of the poultry sector and has come up with a private
sector-led solution to increasing egg production in Nigeria.”
Also, Ms Nwaodike
observed that over the last six years, the Ministry has failed to perform one
of its key obligations under the FOI Act, which is to proactively publish
information relating to the receipt or expenditure of public or other
funds of the institution, information containing
applications for any contracts made by or between the institution and
another public institution, as well as the names, salaries, title and
dates of employment of all employees and
officers of the institution; and other information which it is
required to disclose in accordance with Section 2 of the Act.
She also noted that
“in the six years since the enactment of the FOI Act, the Ministry had failed
woefully in complying with the provisions of Section 29 of the Act, which
requires the Ministry, like all other public institutions, to on or
before February 1 of each year, submit to the Attorney-General of the
Federation a report of its implementation of the FOI Act covering the preceding
fiscal year.”
“Despite the
provisions of Section 13 of the FOI Act, there is also no indication that the
Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has at any time in the
last six years provided the required training for its officials on the public’s
right of access to information or to equip relevant officials with the skills
to ensure the effective implementation of the Act,” she said.
Besides, Ms Nwaodike
said, the Ministry has not complied with Section 2(3)(f) of the FOI Act, which
requires the agency, as a public institution, to designate an appropriate
officer to whom applications for information under the Act should be sent and
to proactively publish the title and address of the officer.
Launched on July 3, 2017, the FOI Hall of Shame focuses attention
on public officials and institutions that are undermining the effectiveness of
the FOI Act through their actions, inactions, utterances and decisions.
Ogochukwu Nebenanya/GEE
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