1 YEAR AFTER FOI PASSAGE: ENetSuD Appreciates 8th Assembly And Collaborators

The Freedom of Information (FOI) bill, proposed by ENetSuD, was submitted to the 8th Kwara State House of Assembly (Kwha Nigeria) on 6th May, 2019.

After receiving the bill, it was sponsored by Hon. Abdulrafiu Abdulrahman, who was the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Youth, Sports and Culture.

The bill passed first and second readings on 21st and 22nd May 2019. It was then debated in a well-attended and transparent public hearing on 27th May 2019 where all stakeholders supported it unanimously.

On 30th May, 2019, the bill was finally passed by the 8th Assembly, and the then Speaker, Rt. Hon. Dr. Ali Babatunde Ahmad, directed the Clerk of the House to prepare a clean copy and transmit it to the Governor for Assent.

On 20th June, 2019, the Clerk of the House transmitted the clean copy of the bill to the new Governor (Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq) for Assent.

On 23rd July, 2019, the 9th Assembly Office of the Speaker, Kwara State (Rt. Hon. Salihu Yakubu Danladi) read the letter from the Governor (Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq) requesting for minor amendment of the bill before assent.

Today (30th May, 2020) marks exactly 1 year that the bill was passed by the Dr. Ali Babatunde Ahmad-led 8th Assembly.

After 312 days that the Rt. Hon. Yakubu Danladi-led 9th Assembly received the bill from the Governor, it has not attended to it and the bill remains in coma.

TODAY, we are appreciating Rt. Hon. Dr. Ali Babatunde Ahmad, who lobbied all his Honorable members to ensure the bill was passed after being convinced on the bill by ENetSuD.

We are appreciating the efforts of Hon. Abdulrafiu Abdulrahman who sponsored the bill in the 8th Assembly. We can't forget how he sacrificed and left i'tikaf (seclusion during the last 10 days of Ramadan) to ensure that the bill was passed within the lifespan of the 8th Assembly.

We are appreciating the Committees on Information, Youth Sports and Culture; Ethics and Privileges; Judiciary and any other(s) for their roles in the success we recorded in getting the bill passed by the 8th Assembly within 24 days of writing the Assembly.

We are appreciating the Clerk of the Assembly (Hajia Halima Jumai Kperogi) for all the efforts she made on the bill.

We are also appreciating the Civil servants of the Assembly that worked overtime to correct the bill after the public hearing, and that worked on the bill to get the clean copy ready for the Governor's proposed assent.

We are also endlessly appreciating the CSOs, NGOs and Media organizations that supported the advocacy. They include Grassroots Development Monitoring and Advocacy Centre (GDMAC), Initiatives to Reawaken Kwara Citizenry on Civic Education, Meadows Community and Development Outreach (MCDO), BudgIT/Tracka, Society for Continuum of Change and Development (SCCD), Centre for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication (CCEPP), Community Outreach for Development and Welfare Advocacy (CODWA), Women Environment and Youth Development Initiative (WOYODEV), Fulfilling Dreams Foundation, Anchor Agricultural Development Initiative (AADI), Royal Heritage Health Foundation (RHHF), Civil Right and Development Resource Centre (CIRDEV), Play Safe Life Care Foundation, Theios Caregivers Initiative, ORG FOR THE SUSTAINANCE OF THE NIG. ENVIRONMENT. (OSNE), Kwara Development Advocacy Group (KWDAG), FRESH INSIGHT TV, Nigeria Guild of Investigative Journalists, Factual Times Media, Media Advocacy and Technologies Center (MATEC), Kwara North Youth Ambassadors for Good Governance (KNYAGG), The Informant247, JUST EVENT ONLINE, Satcom Media Consults, Kwara Reporters, Sobi101.9FM,  Royal FM 95.1, Nigeria Union of Journalists, among others.