Again, Akwa Ibom MDAs Rank Low on FOI Compliance, Transparency

By Ekemini Simon

Access to Information in Akwa Ibom State has continued to remain at its lowest point despite freedom of information Act enacted 11 years ago, this, 2022 the sub-national FOI compliance and transparency ranking in Akwa Ibom State has shown.

The ranking has revealed that State Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, (MDAs), in Akwa Ibom are not granting information requests to the media, civil society organisation and the citizens, even when the requests are made under the FOI Act.

The Freedom of Information Act came into force on May 28, 2011. The Act is followed by several court rulings noting that State Governments are under obligation to respect requests made under the FOI Act.

In the 2021 ranking, 29 MDAs were sampled in Akwa Ibom State but none scored up to 30 points out of 100 points. A year later, the result is similar.

A non Governmental organisation, Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC) in partnership with Akwa Ibom Access to Information Team made the unveiling of its 2022 Subnational Freedom of Information Act Compliance and Transparency ranking in the State to mark the International Day for Access to Information.

The MDAs according to the PPDC were ranked based on three main parameters, namely Proactive Disclosure assigned 60 points, Responsiveness to request for Information assigned 20 points and Level of disclosure 20 points.

According to the Programmes Officer, Extractive, Policy Alert, Mr Mfon Gabriel, who spoke on behalf of the CEO of Public and Private Development Center, out of 24 MDAs ranked for on FOI Compliance in 2022, the Ministry of Transport and Solid Minerals emerged the most compliant with 22 points out of 100 points based on their level of responsiveness.

The Ministry of Lands and Water Resources and the Ministry of Justice emerged second with 17 points and 15 points respectively, while Akwa Ibom State Bureau of Public Procurement which grabbed first position in the 2021 ranking fell to fourth place with 12 points.

The Ministry of Education emerged in the 5th position with 7 points, while 9 MDAs shared the 6th position with five points; 2 shared the 15th position with four points, and one MDA had the 17th position with 3 points, while seven MDAs shared the 20th position with zero points each.

The MDAs that came last in the ranking are Government House, Uyo, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economic Development, Akwa Ibom State Committee on Foreign Direct Investment, Ministry of Environment and Solid Minerals, as well as the Ministry of Science and Technology.

PPDC noted that the finding from the ranking showed that many MDAs in the state continue to ignore or out-rightly refuse to honour FOI requests. 

Gabriel, who said that most public offices are yet to come to terms with the importance of access to information, stressed that it appears that the state is just professing transparency and accountability as governance ideals, while refusing to honour requests for information from the citizens, civil society, or the media.”

The organisation used the opportunity of 2022 International Right to Know Day to urge state actors in Akwa Ibom State to be more responsive to Freedom of Information requests and to more proactively provide public information on government websites.

Gabriel added ” It is also important to note that some states of the Niger Delta have within their Fiscal Responsibility Law provisions that mandate them to comply with requests for information. For instance, section 48 (5) of the Fiscal Responsibility Law (2020) of Akwa Ibom State mandates the government to oblige requests for information.

“The section states “No official secrets law, rule or practice shall operate or be invoked or relied upon by any person to deny, limit or in any way negatively affect the exercise of the right to information conferred by this Law or the Freedom of Information Act upon any person, group, persons, institution, body or agency. Section 52 (3) of the law states the penalty for failure to honour such a request. We call on civil society and media organisations to make effective use of this provision in addition to the FOI Act 2011 to demand transparency and accountability.”