Obvious focus on the
banking industry, the Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has inducted the Bank ofIndustry (BoI) into its Freedom of Information (FOI) Hall of Shame over the
institution’s preference for shrouding its operations in secrecy while
completely disregarding its duties and obligations under the FOI Act, 2011,
reports ITRealms.
MRA’s Programme
Officer, Mr. Idowu Adewale, told ITRealms
in a press statement made available, that the Bank had deliberately refused,
neglected or failed to comply with any of its obligations under the FOI Act
over the last seven years thereby shielding itself from public scrutiny and
depriving Nigerians of their right to access information about its activities,
businesses and operations.
The Bank, which
describes itself as Nigeria’s oldest and largest development financing
institution, was restructured in 2001 out of the Nigerian Industrial
Development Bank (NIDB) Limited. Its primary mandate is to provide long term
financing to the industrial sector of the Nigerian economy.
“The Bank of Industry
is strategically placed and its management has the golden opportunity to
stimulate industrial development in Nigeria. One of the ways it can
effectively do this is by building public trust and confidence in the
institution if it chooses to be transparent and accountable. But it
has instead chosen to cast doubts and suspicion over its activities by refusing
to comply with its obligations under the FOI Act,” he said.
According to Adewale,
“The Bank has refused to publish and disseminate important categories of
information, documents and records that Section 2(3) and (4) of the Act
specifically requires it to publish and disseminate widely in various forms.
These include a list of all classes of records under its control in sufficient
detail to facilitate the exercise of the right to information under the Act;
documents containing final planning policies, recommendations and decisions;
documents containing information relating to the receipt or expenditure of
public or other funds of the institution; and documents containing the names,
salaries, titles and dates of employment of all employees and officers of the
institution.”
He noted that the Bank
has also failed to publish and disseminate its lists of files containing
applications for any contract, permit, grants, licenses or agreement; lists of
materials containing information relating to any grant or contract made by or
between the institution and another public institution or private organization.
Describing the Bank’s
refusal to publish these categories of information as a blatant disobedience of
Section 2 (3) and (4) of the FOI Act, Mr. Adewale said: “These categories of
information, if published by the Bank, will make it possible for entrepreneurs
and industrialists to get a full understanding of the operations of the Bank in
such a manner that they will know what to do to access funds from it and help
turn the country into an industrialized and technologically developed nation.”
He said the Bank had
neither designated an FOI Desk Officer nor disseminated the title and address
of such an officer of the institution to whom applications for information
under the Act should be sent, adding that “This is obvious from the fact that
the information is neither available on its website nor in the database of
contact details of the FOI Desk Officers in public institutions compiled by the
Office of the Attorney General of the Federation. This failure
breaches Section 2(3)(f) of the FOI Act.”
He also accused the
Bank of “a clear defiance” of Section 29 (1) and (2) of the FOI Act and the
provisions of the Revised Guidelines on the Implementation of the FOI Act
issued by the Attorney-General of the Federation, saying that “for seven
consecutive years since the coming into force of the FOI Act, BoI has
consistently defaulted in submitting to the Attorney-General of the Federation
any report on its implementation of the Act while also failing to make any such
report available to the public.”
Mr. Adewale said based
on the fact that the Bank has consistently breached all its other duties and
obligations under the FOI Act, it is unlikely that it has responded to any FOI
request that may have been made to it by members of the public, adding that the
institution’s failure to submit its FOI implementation reports has made it
difficult to accurately assess its level of responsiveness to requests for
information made to it by members of the public under the Act.
He explained that all
public institutions are required to indicate in their annual FOI implementation
reports to the Attorney-General of the Federation, the number of requests for
information that they received during the year under review, the number of such
requests that they processed and granted or denied, and how long it takes them
to process requests for information, among other details that they are expected
to provide.
“From the shortcomings
of the BoI in the implementation of the FOI Act as highlighted, it is doubtful
if it even records and keeps information about its activities, personnel,
operations, businesses and other relevant information, as required by the Act,”
he said, advising the Bank that it still “has the opportunity to make amends
and write its name in gold in the Hall of Fame.”
However, he called on relevant oversight agencies to rise up to
their duty of ensuring the implementation and enforcement of the FOI Act and
ensure that BoI, as well as all other institutions covered by the Act, comply
with their obligations under the Law.
Launched on July 3, 2017, the FOI Hall of Shame shines the
spotlight on public officials and institutions that are undermining the
effectiveness of the FOI Act through their actions, inactions, utterances and
decisions.
Ayo Midele/GEE
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