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    Lagos Assembly on FoI Bill

    The Lagos State House of Assembly, on Friday, 24 May 2013, announced its plans to make the state's version of the Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill open to the public before passage into law.

    The bill, which domesticates the FoI Act 2011, allows "every citizen of the state access to any record under the control of government or public institution not withstanding anything contained in any law or regulation."

    Speaking at the one-day public hearing on the bill, Speaker of the House, Adeyemi Ikuforiji said the House had decided to post the bill on the internet for the public to freely access and make contributions before its passage by the House. Ikuforiji, who said this in reaction to contributions by civil society organisations on the need for wider assessment of the bill, said the approach was necessary because of the sensitive nature of the bill. He noted that the bill was about the public and aims at democratic society, "so the people must be more aware of what it contains."

    "The advice that the bill should go on the net is well taken, and it will soon go on the net. "We have had cases in the past where we have bills on the net before their passage into law. And from today, no bill should go through passage before first getting published on the net," he said. The speaker added that an unhindered access to information was important in a truly democratic society and that it was the hallmark of all advanced countries today.

    Source: allAfrica

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