BudgIT Nigeria, a civic tech organisation, working
on fiscal transparency has demanded that the Lagos State Government respond to
its numerous letters supported by the Freedom of Information Act.
Following the judgement at the Ondo State Appeal
Court by Hon. Justice Ridwan Maiwada Abdullahi, which compels state governments
to respect the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act 2011, BudgIT sent a FIB requests
for details of the Ikeja Bus Terminal and details of the contracts awarded by
the state government between May 2015 and May 2018 to the state Commissioner
for Works and Infrastructure, Ade Akinsanya, on May 3, asking for the details of the cost for the public projects
execution of the Ikeja Bus Terminal.
The Court of Appeal, Akure Division, on March 27,
2018, ruled that the requests for public information under the FoI Act are made
in public interest and should be honoured by all states in Nigeria. The bus
terminal which was inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari on March 29 is
stated to be a world-class infrastructure that will cater for 4 million
Lagosians per day. BudgIT understands the project is now completed, and therefore
demands that the cost of the project be made public.
“However, Akinsanya is yet to respond to the
request and has thereby flouted the provision of the FOI Act Section (4) which
mandates a public institution to respond to a request within seven days. Also,
in the advent that the public institution feels the information should be
denied, Section 4(b) provides that the public institution gives a written
notice, stating reasons for the denial, and the section of the FOI Act under
which the denial is made. The Lagos State Ministry of Works and infrastructure
has refused to provide neither the information to the request nor a response
for refusal there utterly disregarding the FOI Act,” the group said.
Following the lack of response from Ministry of
Works and infrastructure, BudgIT stated that it sent a reminder on the subject
to the Ministry and distributed copies to the offices of the Executive
Governor, Deputy Governor, Attorney General, Commissioner for information and
Strategy and the Office of Civic Engagement.
The letter dated May 31, 2018 reiterated the requests made by the
organisation on the cost of executing the Ikeja Bus Terminal.
In addition to the request on details of Ikeja Bus
Terminal, on May 31, 2018, BudgIT submitted another FoI request for the details
of contracts awarded between May 2015 and May 2018. The FoI request sought the
comprehensive information on projects executed and completed with information
on the financials for each project within the current period. Copies of the
letters were also sent to the offices of the Governor, Attorney General,
Commissioner for Information and Strategy and the Office of Civic Engagement.
With the ruling on FOI application to states,
BudgIT urged the state government to disregard its former opaque and
non-transparent ways around government expenditure and project execution and
embrace openness.
According to BudgIT's Oluseun Onigbinde, "It is
imperative that the state government which generates the highest revenue in
Nigeria at almost N40billion monthly becomes accountable to its tax-paying
citizens."
BudgIT is committed to getting information on public
funds utilisation and helping the government become accountable to those it
governs. Despite being an entity mainly
funded by taxpayers, the state government shrouds the information on
procurement, and capital projects cost in secrecy which further erodes good
governance traits in the state.
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