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5 Reasons Why FOI Bill Must Be Returned To 9th Assembly For Fresh Scrutiny - Comr. Abdulrazaq Hamzat


It appeared most of the contributors to this narrative of foi bill are not really interested in the issues

We prefer the lazy man way of blaming, baseless accusations and undue trivialization of issues

Rather than engage the issues based on substance, we resort to blackmail, which of course cannot lead us to anywhere.

So, here are the issues for those interested in issues

1. Kwara Must Change had in 2017, engaged the past assembly, aswell as the Attorney General on the need to pass the foi. They failed to do it. This clearly shows that they are not interested in the foi. And suddenly, less than a month to their exit,  it was initiated, with some special clauses. Is it proper, to ask a new administration, without a cabinet to assent to such bill without scrutiny?

2. The bill was sent to the assembly on may 5 and it passed 1st , 2nd and 3rd reading within less than 3weeks, which was not only unprecedented in the history, but also call to question, the political motivation.

Is it proper to ask a new govt to assent without scrutinizing such bill that passed through such abnormal process?

3. Apart from the foi, several other politically motivated bills, such as the local government amendment bill was also passed in the same manner.

Is it proper to ask the governor to assent to a bill which came along with some already questionable bills without proper scrutiny?

4. What is the motivation behind following an abnormal process to pass a bill if there's no political undertones?

5. And finally, why is anybody scared of scrutinizing the bill? Nobody is saying the bill shouldn't be passed. We said, subject it to scrutiny. Why is anyone scared of subjecting the bill to scrutiny?

Whether now or later, the Kwara State Governor will have to eventually sign the bill. Let's focus our energy in engaging the new assembly.

Abdulrazaq Hamzat's (Convener Kwara Must Change) comment on FOI Bill.


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