Cumplimiento mejorado del requisito de disposiciones de publicación obligatorias (FOIA) (NG0024)

Breve descripción:
Este compromiso busca mejorar el cumplimiento de los requisitos de publicación obligatoria de la FOIA por parte de las instituciones públicas para divulgar de manera proactiva información al público, presentar informes anuales a AGF sobre las solicitudes de FOI recibidas y respondidas en cualquier año antes del 1 de febrero del año siguiente, y mejorar su respuesta a las solicitudes del público de información bajo la FOIA.

Problema general:
1. Baja conciencia, habilidades y conocimiento de las disposiciones y procesos de FOIA por parte de ciudadanos y servidores públicos
2. Falta de oficiales designados responsables de la libertad de información en la mayoría de las instituciones públicas
3. Falta de sanciones contra instituciones públicas y oficiales responsables de FOI que no responden a las solicitudes de FOI y / o reportan a AGF anualmente.
4. Número inadecuado de la institución pública que tiene portales FOI
5. Pocas instituciones públicas presentan sus informes anuales a la AGF.
6. Falta de infraestructura para soportar la recopilación digital y la gestión de información para facilitar la recuperación oportuna de la información solicitada

Problema específico de OGP:
1. Miembros de la participación del público en la gobernanza a través de la utilización de FOIA
2. Falta de transparencia y responsabilidad en los asuntos y actividades del gobierno.

Justificación del compromiso:
Actualmente existe un alto nivel de incumplimiento con respecto a la divulgación proactiva, las respuestas a las solicitudes de FOI y las obligaciones de informes anuales de las instituciones públicas sobre estas solicitudes y su estado, y esta situación afecta la confianza pública en el gobierno, que en última instancia promueve la corrupción ya que la información se oculta vista pública e interrogatorio

Objetivo principal:
Promover y actualizar el derecho de los ciudadanos a solicitar y recibir información sobre cómo se rigen y cómo se utilizan los recursos de su país.

Impacto anticipado:
Mejor cumplimiento de las disposiciones de la Ley FOI

10. Improve FOIA compliance on mandatory publication provisions requirement, annual reporting obligations to AGF, and response to FOI requests

Objetivo principal

“To promote and actualize the right of citizens to request and receive information about how they are governed and how their country’s resources are utilized.”

Hitos

1. Identification of MDAs that are yet to designate Freedom of Information (FOI) Desk Officers
2. Designation of 350 Freedom of Information (FOI) Desk Officer in public institutions identified in (2) above and publication of their contact details
3. Training of the designated staff in 2 above and other staff of public institutions involved in the implementation of FOIA
4. Integration of the FOI role into the individual or group performance review of the FOI responsible individual and/or unit in public institutions
5. Adoption and application of punitive administrative measures against public institutions and officials adjudged to be undermining the effectiveness of the Act or breaching its provisions
6. Deployment of an E-FOI portal, or any other digital platform where citizens can make FOI requests and receive responses, in at least 150 public institutions
7. Adoption and implementation of Practice Direction to the Judiciary through the Chief Justice of Nigeria to guide the court on FOI cases
8. Adoption of technology-based information systems and standards that will ensure that information is collected, collated and stored in a form that enables public officials to efficiently and effectively retrieve the required information within the 7-day time-limit for response to FOI requests as prescribed by the FOIA

Nota editorial: Para obtener el texto completo de este compromiso, consulte el plan de acción de Nigeria en https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/nigeria-action-plan-2019-2021/

Análisis de compromiso

This commitment’s goal is to enhance the government’s capacity to comply with the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. It intends to encourage the proactive release of information, response to information requests, and submission of reports to the attorney general of the Federation. This commitment builds on Commitment 10 of Nigeria’s 2017–2019 national action plan.

This commitment includes eight milestones. Four activities carried from the previous action plan intend to designate, train, and evaluate FOI desk officers in public institutions; publish their contact details; enable electronic submission of FOI requests; and promote proper collection and storage of data – which would make it easier to retrieve information within the time lines defined by the law. Another important milestone aims to introduce accountability mechanisms in cases of noncompliance with the release of information. This commitment is relevant to the OGP value of access to information, as it envisions various measures to ensure implementation of the FOI Act. The commitment is also relevant to the OGP value of public accountability, as it seeks to adopt and apply punitive administrative measures against officials who fail to comply with the FOI Act.

If implemented fully, this commitment could have a transformative potential impact on increasing public institutions’ (MDAs) compliance with the FOI Act. Increasing the number of MDAs with designated FOI officers could play an important role. Most agencies still lack FOI units within their departments. ^[] As of November 2018, only 130 out of 900 MDAs (14%) had relevant officers assigned. ^[] The commitment’s goal of 350 desk officers would double the current number.

Additionally, electronic portals for submission of FOI requests would ease the process of requesting information. Previously, information requests have been largely paper based. The administrative procedures coupled with a paper-based records management system have contributed to MDAs’ difficulties with meeting the seven-day limit for releasing requested information. As of May 2020, only 11 MDAs had e-FOI portals, and only five were in the process of building portals, ^[] meaning that the commitment’s goal of 150 public institutions with e-portals would represent substantial progress.

Moreover, the commitment foresees two milestones (5 and 7) with accountability measures for noncompliance, which could create an incentive for higher compliance to the law. However, the action plan does not clarify what these accountability measures would include and how they could be applied. Currently, the compliance rate among 900 MDAs is less than 10% according to the research conducted by the CSO, the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR). Under the previous action plan, the government developed a practice direction to guide courts on FOI Cases, which had not been submitted to the judiciary by the beginning of the current action plan. ^[]

Given the number of MDAs engaged in this commitment, the IRM recommends establishing coordination and communication across relevant units with a consistent message and approach to implementation of FOI rules, drawing on examples of MDAs that have gone further in compliance with the FOI Act.

• The Bureau of Public Service Reforms could engage in annual monitoring of MDAs’ compliance with the FOI Act and publish information about MDAs that do not meet the requirements.
• Allocation of sufficient funding would be essential to properly resource MDAs and meet personnel training and technology needs to handle information requests.