Atiku Hails Passage of FOI Bill

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Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has commended what he called the courage of President Goodluck Jonathan to formally sign into law the Freedom of Information Bill.

 

 

 

Reacting to the landmark development in Nigeria’s democratic evolution in a statement issued yesterday by his media office in Abuja, the former Vice President noted that, with the passage of the Bill into law, transparency and accountability in governance would now be hopefully entrenched in the conduct of public life at all levels.

 

 

 

According to Atiku, there could not have been a better time than now to entrench strenuous ethical standards in public life, especially with the current anti-corruption crusade.

 

 

 

The former Vice President argued that transparency and accountability cannot be achieved when members of the public have no access to records and other documents essential in exposing wrong-doings against the people.

 

 

 

He said with the passage of the new law, the shroud of secrecy that surrounds government and private sector activities will now have been lifted.

 

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“Given the nature of our society, the fear of exposure of wrong doings will appear to me to be a far more effective deterrent to public and private officials than even the courts could possibly be,” Atiku said.

 

 

 

He urged media practitioners to up their game and avail themselves of the opportunities and possibilities offered by the new law.

 

 

 

He praised the Sixth National Assembly for not reneging on its promise to make the law a reality and the tenacious struggles of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigerian Guild of Editors, Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Civil Society organizations, including pressure and interest groups.

 

The former Vice President noted that, despite the efforts of certain forces to kill or hinder the effectiveness of the Freedom of Information Bill in the 12 years that the process took to reach maturation, President Jonathan has demonstrated extraordinary courage by signing the bill into law.

 

He, however, added that necessary amendments to the law are still urgently needed in order to make the new transparency law effective and binding on all institutions and the private sector.

 

Describing the passage of the law as the happiest coincidence of his life, Atiku said the event comes at a time he is on the verge of launching his own state-of-the-art radio and television stations in Nigeria, which are poised to achieve comparable international standards in modern digital and satellite broadcasting.

 

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