Only 3 of 180 FOI requests answered across Niger Delta states, group says
Summarised from reporting by Premium Times. Figures trace to that report; check it before relying on them.
A Policy Alert baseline found a 1.7 per cent response rate to information requests in nine Niger Delta states, and only Imo has an FOI law.
Public institutions in the nine Niger Delta states answered only three of 180 Freedom of Information (FOI) requests sent to them, according to a 2024 baseline assessment presented on Wednesday, Premium Times reports.
The findings were shared at a virtual dialogue for the International Day for Universal Access to Information, organised by the Niger Delta Open Governance Observatory, a Policy Alert initiative, with Open Alliance Nigeria. The response rate was 1.7 per cent and the average proactive disclosure score was 8.33 per cent.
Abia came top with 35 of 100 points, while Delta and Imo scored 30 each. Cross River and Edo had 15, while Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Ondo and Rivers scored lowest. Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Delta rejected requests outright. Imo is the only state with its own FOI law; Delta's FOI bill, passed in 2019, has not been signed.
The organisers announced a Niger Delta FOI Ranking 2026 and called for stronger enforcement of the FOI Act, state FOI laws where none exist, and fuller publication of budget information by state and local governments.
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