Media Rights Agenda (MRA), yesterday, expressed concern over government’s statement, through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, threatening to jail government officials who disclose information without authorisation.
At a workshop in Abuja, on Tuesday, organised by the Bureau for Public Service Reforms (BPSR), in collaboration with the Office of the SGF, Akume said the unauthorised leakage of sensitive official documents constitutes a felony with no defence, either in the Constitution or Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.
MRA’s Deputy Executive Director, Ayode Longe, described as false and illogical the SGF’s accusation in the same speech that civil society organisations (CSOs) “use the FOI Act to harass, intimidate and siphon resources from public officers through the dissemination of fake and unfounded information.”
Akume’s call for the regulation of the activities of civil society organisations on this ground, he asserted, was a red herring designed to divert attention from the government’s real challenges.
Longe argued that unless the SGF was saying that when CSOs apply to public institutions for information using the FOI Act, they were served “fake and unfounded information”.
Calling on Akume to substantiate his allegation, Longe stressed that the SGF’s aversion to transparency and accountability in government should not lead him to mischaracterise the FOI Act or falsely accuse CSOs that have only exercised the right given to them and every other person by the Act.
He, therefore, advised the SGF to concentrate on ensuring that the government does the right thing rather than things it appears to be ashamed of, such that it would not be afraid of it being revealed to the public.
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