The Next Edition
  • Home
  • About Us
  • News
  • Featured
  • Investigations
  • Foreign
  • Special Reports
  • Entertainment
  • Interviews
  • Advert Rate
No Result
View All Result
The Next Edition
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Us
  • News
  • Featured
  • Investigations
  • Foreign
  • Special Reports
  • Entertainment
  • Interviews
  • Advert Rate
Home Headline News

No state exempted from obeying FoI law –Court

Olalekan Saliu by Olalekan Saliu
April 13, 2018
in Headline News
No state exempted from obeying FoI law –Court
0
SHARES
14
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Whatsapp

No state in Nigeria is exempted from honouring requests for information made under the Freedom of Information law, especially those bordering on public expenditure.

This is because such requests are made in the interest of the public.

You might also like

Police Arrest Five For Oyo Kidnap, Recover ₦4.6m Ransom

FG Puts Up Presidential Jet For Sale In Switzerland

Guild of Editors Suspends Editor For One Year

The order to that effect was given by the Akure Division of the Court of Appeal in its March 27 decision.

The decision followed a suit by Martins Alo, a journalist, against the Speaker of Ondo State House of Assembly and Auditor-General of Ondo State.

In the suit, the journalist demanded the audited report of Ondo State Government between 2012 and 2014 to properly access how public funds were utilised in the state.

The request was however rejected.

It was in reaction to the rejection that the journalists filed the suit to seek a redress.

Initially, the Akure Division of Ondo State High Court, in 2016 ruled against the journalists, saying that he had no right to demand how the state was spending money.

According to the High Court, the FoI was not applicable to states and the request was not in public interest in any way.

Williams Akintoroye, the judge, said Alo should pay a damage of N10,000 for wasting the precious time and resources of the state.

Unrelenting in his fight, Alo, through his lawyer, Femi Emodamori, appealed the ruling.

The lawyer argued that the judge erred in his judgment and that Alo was acting in public interest.

READ ALSO: 2019: Free, fair elections, panacea for sustainable democracy –CSO

But in its ruling, a three-member panel at the Court of Appeal rejected Mr. Akintoroye’s ruling and agreed with Alo that the FoI was applicable to states and it was in public interest for the state government to release its audited report.

The Court of Appeal judges included Uzo Ndukwe-Anyanwu, Obande Ogbuinya and Ridwan Abdullahi.

Mr. Ndukwe-Anyanwu who wrote the lead opinion said  Alo had a right to act on behalf of the public to obtain the information from state authorities.

He also ruled against the N10,000 fine imposed by the lower court.

“In a democratic dispensation, such as Nigeria’s, the citizens have been proclaimed the owners of sovereignty and mandates that place leaders in the saddle,” Mr Ogbuinya also wrote in his opinion.

It would be recalled that some states like Lagos, Ondo, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom and Adamawa had at different times argued that the FoI law did not apply to them.

Tags: CourtexemptedFoIheadlineLawnewsnoobeyingState
Olalekan Saliu

Olalekan Saliu

Recommended For You

New Police

Police Arrest Five For Oyo Kidnap, Recover ₦4.6m Ransom

  The Oyo State Police Command has arrested five suspects allegedly involved in the June 26 abduction of a man identified as Timothy in Mokorede, Ipapo, within the...

FG Puts Up Presidential Jet For Sale In Switzerland

FG Puts Up Presidential Jet For Sale In Switzerland

  The Federal Government has listed Nigeria’s 20-year-old Boeing Business Jet (BBJ), formerly used for presidential travel, for sale in Switzerland following its replacement by a newly acquired...

NGE Demands End To Harassment Of Journalists By Ebonyi Govt

Guild of Editors Suspends Editor For One Year

  The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has suspended one of its members, Mr. Steve Osuji, for violating the "off the record" provision in the Code of Ethics...

How My Husband, Pastor Killed My 7-Year-Old Son For Money Ritual In Enugu- Wife

Enugu Govt. Urges Digital Health Records Adoption  

    The Enugu State Government has called on public and private hospitals to adopt the digitalisation of patients’ medical records to enhance service delivery and reduce treatment...

Next Post
Okoro, another Nigerian killed in South Africa

Okoro, another Nigerian killed in South Africa




Related News

FUTA First female Vice Chancellor, Prof. Adenike Oladiji.

FUTA Inaugurates First Female Vice Chancellor

Ogun Will Pay N30,500 Minimum Wage – Govt

Ogun Will Pay N30,500 Minimum Wage – Govt

FG Takes Over NIHOTOUR North Central Zonal Campus In Benue

FG Takes Over NIHOTOUR North Central Zonal Campus In Benue




The Next Edition

Office Address

3B, Agboola Aina street, Off Toyin Street,
Ikeja, Lagos.

Quick Contact Details

Phone:
08033018430
Whatsapp:
08051679910

Email:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Categories

  • Aviation
  • Beauty
  • Breaking News
  • Business
  • Columnists
  • Editorial
  • Entertainment
  • Fashion
  • Featured
  • Football
  • Foreign
  • Headline News
  • Home & Garden
  • Interviews
  • Investigations
  • North Central
  • North East
  • North West
  • Opinion
  • Parenting
  • Politics
  • Relationships
  • South East
  • South West
  • South-South
  • Special Reports
  • Sports
  • Top News
  • Vox Pops

© Next Edition Business Development Limited

  • About Us
  • Advert Rate
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Us
  • News
  • Featured
  • Investigations
  • Foreign
  • Special Reports
  • Entertainment
  • Interviews
  • Advert Rate

© Next Edition Business Development Limited