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7 July 2011
Kayode Fayemi, governor of the Nigerian state of Ekiti State, signed a freedom of information act for his state on July 4.
The legislation was described as a domestication” of the new Nigerian national FOIA law in report by Emma…
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14 June 2011
The freedom of information bill that finally emerged in Nigeria is one of the best in the world, according to a key figure in the successful campaign for a FOI law in Nigeria.
Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director of Media Rights…
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13 June 2011
The Nigerian state of Ekiti governor, Kayode Fayemi, has sent a freedom of information bill to the State Assembly.
Passage would make Ekiti the first state to pass a FOI law in the wake of a new national law being…
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3 June 2011
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has signed a freedom information bill.
The president’s signature May 28 came 11 years after a FoI bill was first submitted to Nigeria’s 4th National Assembly in 1999. A bill was passed by both chambers in…
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25 May 2011
The Nigerian Senate and House May 24 passed a harmonized version of the Freedom of Information bill worked out bv a Joint Conference Committee.
Advocates are urging President Goodluck Jonathan, who has previously stated his support for a FOI law,…
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24 May 2011
The influence of transparency on fighting corruption was questioned in several papers presented at The First Global Conference on Transparency Research held May 19-20 at Rutgers University-Newark, N.J. (See overall report in FreedomInfo.org.)
The Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI)…
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6 May 2011
With less than a month to go until the end of the parliamentary session in Nigeria, the freedom of information bill will be a priority, according to Senate officials.
The big task remaining, however, is to harmonize the House and Senate…
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8 April 2011
The Human Rights Institute of The Nigerian Bar Association this week advocated for passage of freedom of information legislation.
A letter signed by Festus Okoye, the secretary of the Institute, highlighted the nine major differences between the version passed by…
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19 March 2011
Nigerian media groups are lambasting a provision inserted by the Nigerian Senate into its version of the freedom of information bill that would require journalists to disclose their sources , according to media reports such as one in The Nation.…
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16 March 2011
The Nigerian Senate March 16 passed a freedom of information bill considered weaker than the House bill and a “harmonization conference committee” has been appointed to resolve the differences.
During debate March 15, the Senate amended the bill to eliminate…
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4 March 2011
The president of the Nigerian Senate March 3 said that a freedom of information bill will pass before next month’s elections, but suggested that changes are necessary.
While saying that half a bill would be better than no bill, he offered no…
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1 March 2011
The Special Adviser to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Media, Imma Niboro, has distanced the president from remarks by another presidential advisor that were sharply critical of the pending freedom of information bill.
Nibora told reporters March 1 that Special…
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1 March 2011
Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on National Assembly Matters, former senator Mohammed Abba Aji, vowed Feb. 28 to scuttle freedom of information legislation.
The leader of a key Senate committee, however, told The Vanguard newspaper that the bill will…
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25 February 2011
The Nigerian House of Representatives Feb. 24 passed a freedom of information bill without opposition.
Senate action is still required.
The action by the House, however, was a major step forward after the bill seemed to have stalled in 2010. …
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18 February 2011
The Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, has said the House will get committee reports soon on Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation, according to media reports such as one by Shola Adekola in The Nigerian Tribune.
The…
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11 February 2011
The Nigerian House Feb. 10 voted to speed up action on freedom of information legislation that has been pending for 11 years.
In an unexpected move, the House sent the measure for “thorough scrutiny” by two of its committees — Information and…
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11 February 2011
By Toby McIntosh
Frustrated with lack of action on freedom of information legislation at the national level, three states in Nigeria are taking steps to bring more transparency to the state level.
Three states are considering action – Ekiti, Lagos…
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17 January 2011
A key Nigerian legislator has promised to move forward with freedom of information legislation, according to media accounts.
In related developments, Nigerian editors urged passage of a FOI law and a top government minister spoke out for FOI and media…
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10 December 2010
The Senate President of Nigeria, David Mark, has ruled out action this year on freedom of information legislation.
Speaking to the Nigerian Union of Journalists, who gave him an award as the Most Outstanding Speaker of the Decade, Mark…
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3 September 2010
A key Nigerian legislator has indicated that passage of a Freedom of Information bill is conditional on the inclusion of provisions concerning media responsibility.
His position drew a rebuttal from groups supporting the long-stalled FOI bill.
Iyiola Omisore, chairman of…
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20 August 2010
“The prospects for a Freedom of Information Act under the present government in Nigeria look grim, unless we can take decisive action to rescue the situation,” Media Rights Agenda Executive Director Edetaen Ojo told a conference in Lagos, according…
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12 July 2010
The long-running effort to pass a Freedom of Information law in Nigeria continues to face serious challenges, according to recent media reports.
Ahmed Aliyu Wadada, the new chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Information and National Orientation, told…
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22 March 2006
At the London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the board recently released a proposal to modify its disclosure policies, with comments due April 14. The EBRD included in its announcement a number of new provisions.
First, two new categories…
