A non-governmental Organisation, the Childolesscent And Family Survival Organisation -Women Right Action Group (CAFSO-WRAG) has partnered with the Open Society West Africa (OSIWA) to enlightened principal officers from government Ministries on the implementation of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), urging them to embrace the Act, reports ITRealms.
The Principal Coordinator for CAFSO-WRAG for Development, Dr. David Tola Winjobi, made this call in his keynote recently in Ekiti State, urging Nigerians to read the Act and made use of it so as to throne a better country.
He also said that the training has become imperative as the first of its kind in the country, which aligns with the Section 13 of the FOI Act of 2011 and precisely on page 13, which reads inter alia, promotes "appropriate training for government officials on the public right to access information or records held by the government or public institutions as provided for in the Act."
He pointed out that Nigerians need to know the content of the FOI Act and urged for its embrace, especially those charged with the implementation of the Act at various government agencies.
Nigerians, he insisted, have the right to know and the right to request for documents in public interest.
"We encourage all to read and digest this FOIA, and begin to use FOIA in different sectors of the economy because it's the right of Nigerian citizens to know how they are being governed," he said.
This, Winjobi listed to include budget implementation by ministries, department and agencies of government.
The essence of the training session, the coordinator said, comprised to equip the skills of the principal officers in government ministries in the area of FOI Act.
In addition, he said, the training would strengthen their skills in responding to requests in accordance with the FOIA, so as to safeguard penalties and fines when request is being turned down.
Further, he pointed out that the workshop afforded participants to be enlightened on their roles as public officers in the implementation of FOI Act in Southwest States.
Ayo Midele/GEE
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