The Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) has called for review of laws that conflicts with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Such laws includes the Official Secrets Act, Public Complaints Commission Act and Criminal Code which are perceived to be in conflict with the Act.
The Acting Director-General of the Bureau, Mr Dasuki Arabi, made the call on Tuesday in Abuja.
He was speaking at the presentation of the “Policy Brief and Recommendations on Strengthening the Implementation of the Freedom of Information Act in the Nigeria Federal Public Service”.
The 54-page brief summarized the results of the BPSR and ‘Right To Know (R2K)’ study on Administrative Burden in the implementation of the FOIA in selected Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
“The FOI Act supersedes the Official Secrets Act, originally enacted in 1911, which forbade the unauthorised transmission, obtaining, reproduction, or retention of any classified matter.
“The Act applies not only to public institutions but also to private organisations providing public service, performing public functions or utilising public funds.
“In particular, the FOI Act is designed to remove the aura of mystery and exclusion with which public servants cloak the ordinary operations of government and public institutions with secrecy,” Arabi said.
According to him, a number of public institutions are still resistant to the full implementation of the FOIA.
He added that the level of compliance with FOIA’s regulatory submission requirements by public institutions in Nigeria have increased from 16 in 2011 to 73 in 2017.
He, however, said the overall level of compliance by public institutions was still low at less than 10 per cent of the estimated total number of 900 public institutions.