By Alhaji Alhasan Abdulai
The coordinator of the Coalition of the Right to Information in Ghana Ugonna Uikaigwe has passed on very good information on how the Freedom of Information law is likely to promote transparency and accountability in Nigeria.
According to a news story sent in by Gbadamosi John and published in Nigeria the president of the Federal Republic Of Nigeria intends to give the required backing to the law by keeping the wallet of the nation open for all to know how much is received and how much is spent.
In a news story written By Isiaka Wakili and published on February 4, 2015 in Nigeria the Nigerian president made good remarks about the law , making it easy for all those in doubt to know how good the FOI law is for the governors and the governed alike in Nigeria and the world over. Now read on
President Goodluck Jonathan of the federal republic of Nigeria has indicated that through the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, Nigerians now know what he spends and can ask questions.
In a Facebook post, the president noted that the FOI Act had the effect of lifting the veil on government.
He said the Act had also enabled Nigerians to know how much government’s ministries, departments and agencies spend.
“When I signed the Freedom of Information Law (FOI), it had the effect of lifting the veil on government. Nigerians now know how much I spend as well as how much is spent by other Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government and can ask questions which foster transparency,” he said.
Jonathan said efforts were ongoing to “persuade some states who have resisted the domestication of this law to bow to reason and accept this law in practice and in theory.”
According to him, “It is for these reasons and others that Nigeria, under my watch, continues to make steady progress in the anti-corruption war and with your renewed mandate, we will never relent.”
The president said global best practices over the past decades had proven that corruption is best tackled when opportunities for graft are eliminated.
SOURCE; Alhaji Alhasan Abdulai
EANFOWORLD FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
0244 370345/ 0264370345/0208844791
[email protected]/[email protected]
