The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has explained why the Nigerian
Television Authority (NTA) became the latest recipient of the Freedom of
Information (FOI) Hall of Shame award for failure to promote the FOI Act,
reports ITRealms.
MRA also faulted NTA inability to ensure its effective
implementation as a public service media organization as well as for its
non-compliance with its obligations under the Act as a public institution.
Equally, MRA said it was well aware of the irony of
inducting into the FOI Hall of Shame a national news organization established
for the sole purpose of providing news and information to the public and which
should ordinarily be at the forefront of promoting the FOI Act and advocating
total compliance with the provisions of the Law by other public institutions.
Mrs. Mosunmola Olanrewaju, MRA’s Programme Manager in charge
of Legal Matters, said her organization was constrained to award the dubious
honour to the NTA because in addition to failing to promote the Act and monitor
compliance by other public institutions, the national broadcaster was itself
consistently in flagrant disregard of its statutory duties and obligations as a
public institution covered by the Act, thereby undermining its implementation
and effectiveness.
“The NTA, being the national
television network, considering its wide reach and its key function, which is
to provide news and information as a public service in the interest of Nigeria,
is expected to set the pace by complying with all the obligations imposed on it
by the FOI Act. As purveyors of information, one would have thought that
compliance with the proactive disclosure obligations imposed on the NTA as a
public institution would be second nature to it. Unfortunately, the reverse
appears to be the case as the organization does no proactive disclosure as
required by Section 2(3), (4) and (5) of the FOI Act,” she said.
According to MRA, all public institutions, a class to which
the NTA clearly belongs, being a body established by Law, providing a public
service and utilizing public funds, are expected to proactively disclose
certain types of information listed in Section 2(3) (a) to (f) of the FOI Act,
by various means including print, electronic and online sources.
However, it said, the NTA is not doing this, in addition to
the fact that very little information is generally available on its website,
which does not include the categories of information which the Act specifically
requires it to proactively publish to the public through this very important
medium.
MRA also accused the NTA of failing to comply with its
statutory reporting obligations, observing that since 2011, when the FOI Act
came into force, the organization has consistently neglected to submit its
annual reports to the Attorney General of the Federation as stipulated by
section 29(5) of the FOI Act and the Guidelines on the Implementation of the
FOI Act issued by the Attorney General of the Federation.
It observed that the situation was ironic as the NTA ought
to be tenaciously reporting on public institutions that were failing to carry
out their obligations under the Act, including regular submission of reports,
proactively disclosing the information so required, among others.
The organization noted that the NTA’s failure to summit its
annual report to the Attorney General of the Federation makes it virtually
impossible to determine the number of applications for access to information
that the organization receives each year and the number of such applications
that it processed and granted.
MRA said there was no indication that the NTA has provided
appropriate training for its officials on the public’s right of access to
information held by it as well as on the effective implementation of the Act as
required by section 13 of the Act.
It added that the NTA does not appear to have designated any
officer to be in charge of receiving FOI requests from the public as the title
and address of such an officer is not published anywhere as the FOI Act
requires all public institutions to do.
Mrs. Olanrewaju said: “The NTA being a media organization
with the mandate of a public service broadcaster, it ought to routinely
facilitate transparency and accountability in all ramifications while also
serving as a bridge between the Government and citizens. Serving the public interest should be
paramount in all its activities and operations, rather than operating in
secrecy and choosing to disrespect the provisions of the FOI Act.”
MRA launched the “FOI Hall of Shame” on July 3, 2017 to draw
attention to public officials and institutions that are undermining the
effectiveness of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 through their actions,
inactions, utterances and decisions.
Chuks Egbune/GEE
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