press releases & Protests

April 21, 2007

Your Excellency,
President Olusegun Obasanjo
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Aso Rock Presidential Villa
Asokoro District
Abuja, Nigeria

Dear President Obasanjo,

Presidential Assent for the Freedom of Information Bill 2007

I am writing to you from the World Press Freedom Committee's Africa Office in Johannesburg, South Africa to urge you to sign into Law the Freedom of Information Bill 2007, which is awaiting Presidential assent.

The Freedom of Information Bill was passed by the House of Representatives in August 2004 and subsequently passed by the Senate in November 2006. We understand that both Houses of Nigeria?s National Assembly agreed on a single version of the Bill on 14 February 2007 and that this was subsequently dispatched to you for signature on 23 March 2007.

We are concerned about the delay in assenting to this important Bill and fear that if you do not act soon, Nigeria may lose this golden opportunity to join at least 70 other countries across the globe that have adopted your Freedom of Information laws to give their citizens access to information to enable them participate meaningfully in governance.

As you are aware, in Resolution 59(I), adopted on 14 December 1946, the UN General Assembly declared that: Freedom of information is a fundamental human right and the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated. Since then, a body of international documents has emerged from the international community recognizing and elaborating this right. As a key member of many of the international bodies such as the Commonwealth and the African Union, which have adopted these documents, it is imperative that Nigeria abides by the commitments contained in these documents. We also draw your attention to the African Commission of Human and Peoples' Rights Declaration of Principles on Freedom oif Expression in Africa which your country has adopted.

We are also motivated to write you this letter in the light of your reputation internationally as a committed fighter against corruption. We hope that you will see this piece of legislation as a critical tool which can strengthen the battle against corruption in Nigeria.

We therefore await your urgent action in signing the Bill into Law.

Yours Sincerely,

Raymond Louw
Africa Representative
World Press Freedom Committee
23 Duncombe Road
Forest Town
Johannesburg 2193, SOUTH AFRICA