N25bn contract! MRA shames Federal Ministry of Agriculture
Ogbeh |
The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has
inducted the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) into
its Freedom of Information (FOI) Hall of Shame as it indicted the institution
for its failure to implement the FOI Act, 2011 and its “unjustifiable assault
on the rights of citizens to demand information from public institutions.”
In a statement in Lagos announcing
the selection of the ministry as this week’s inductee into the FOI Hall of
Shame, MRA’s legal officer, Chioma Nwaodike, said the institution was not only
in complete breach of all its obligations under the FOI Act, but had also
exhibited an inexcusable intolerance for the rights of citizens and civic
groups to hold public institutions accountable in accordance with the Law.
The Federal Ministry of
Agriculture is charged with performing regulatory functions in the areas of
agricultural research, agriculture and natural resources, forestry and
veterinary research all over Nigeria. It is the supervisory ministry for nearly
50 federal parastatals across the country that include 13 agencies, 17
agricultural research institutes; and 16 Federal Colleges of Agricultural
Education.
According to Ms Nwaodie: “The
question that comes to mind is how a regulatory institution, primarily funded
by the federal government, which claims to focus on measures to maximize the
full participation of stakeholders in its activities, including farmer’s
associations, cooperatives, NGOs, CBOs, CSOs, development partners and the private
sector, can willfully and persistently refuse to comply with its statutory
duties and obligations under the FOI Act, a key instrument that can facilitate
and enhance such stakeholder participation and inclusiveness.”
She observed that despite the ministry’s
admission that it is primarily funded by the federal government, it is not
known to have responded positively to any FOI request made to it, including a
number of requests by civil society organizations such as the Centre for Social
Justice (CSJ) and the Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC).
On the contrary, recounted Nwaodike,
on July 24, 2016 the ministry, through the office of its minister, Audu Ogbeh,
launched an unwarranted and scathing public attack against the CSJ for exercising
its rights under the FOI Act.
The CSJ had written to Ogbeh,
under the FOI Act, asking him to release details and a copy of a N25 billion
egg production contract he signed with Tuns Farms Nigeria Limited, information
on how Tuns Farms Nigeria Limited was selected for the contract, and if the
contract was advertised in any newspaper in compliance with the provisions of the
Public Procurement Act, a request which was ignored.
Following his refusal to respond
to the request or provide the information sought by CSJ, the organization filed
a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, in accordance with the provisions of
the FOI Act, seeking to compel him to provide it with the information
requested.
Ogbeh’s office thereupon issued a
statement on July 24, 2016, evidencing its contempt for the rights of citizens
to seek information under the FOI Act, asking Nigerians to disregard the
“outbursts of a group acting under the pretext of fighting in public interest by
trying to sue the Honourable Minister.”
Describing the CSJ, which is a
registered and highly respected civil society organization in Nigeria, as “the
self-styled civil rights group, that addressed itself as Centre for Social
Justice,” the minister’s office said “the group, acting on mere imagination and
insinuation, without any fact check, is seeking to ask the minister to release
details and copy of the N25bn contract he signed with Tuns Farms Nigeria
Limited.”
For its audacity in exercising
its right to seek information under the FOI Act, the minister’s office
described the CSJ as “a mechanism for distraction to bring discontent against
the laudable initiative of the Honourable Minister who understands the problems
of the poultry sector and has come up with a private sector-led solution to
increasing egg production in Nigeria.”
Nwaodike observed that over the
last six years, the ministry has failed to perform one of its key obligations
under the FOI Act, which is to proactively publish information relating to the
receipt or expenditure of public or other funds of the institution, information
containing applications for any contracts made by or between the institution
and another public institution, as well as the names, salaries, title and dates
of employment of all employees and officers of the institution; and other
information which it is required to disclose in accordance with Section 2 of
the Act.
She also noted that “in the six
years since the enactment of the FOI Act, the ministry had failed woefully in
complying with the provisions of Section 29 of the Act, which requires it, like
all other public institutions, to, on or before February 1 of each year, submit
to the Attorney-General of the Federation a report of its implementation of the
FOI Act covering the preceding fiscal year.
“Despite the provisions of
Section 13 of the FOI Act, there is also no indication that the Federal
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has at any time in the last six
years provided the required training for its officials on the public’s right of
access to information or to equip relevant officials with the skills to ensure
the effective implementation of the Act.”
Besides, Nwaodike said, the
Ministry has not complied with Section 2(3)(f) of the FOI Act, which requires
the agency, as a public institution, to designate an appropriate officer to
whom applications for information under the Act should be sent and to
proactively publish the title and address of the officer.
Launched on July 3, 2017 the FOI
Hall of Shame focuses attention on public officials and institutions that are
undermining the effectiveness of the FOI Act through their actions, inactions,
utterances and decisions.
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