The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is an Act that gives a person, group, association or organisation the right to access information from Government Agencies, Parastatals, Federal Civil Service, Private and Public sector organisations providing public services, etc.

Any person, group, association, organization, etc. can make a request for information under the FOIA. The request must be in writing with a clear description of the information being sought, and in compliance with specific institutional requirements.

To get information under the FOIA, a request must be made either electronically (e.g. email) or by letter in written form, describing the information sought for, and the preferred format of the response, in as much detail as possible.

Unless an exemption applies, the information, if it is held by the Commission, must be provided to the requester within 7 working days.

Yes. If a staff of the Commission conceals, alters or deliberately destroys information, the staff would be liable to prosecution, with the penalty of a fine of N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) only [Section 7(5)], or imprisonment for a minimum term of one (1) year [Section 10].

Yes. A fee will be charged to recover the costs of document searches, duplication and, in commercial cases, review.

While the FOIA gives a person, group, association or organization the right to request access to Federal records, some records are exempted from release. These documents include but are not limited to;

• National security records which have been lawfully classified on national security grounds, and remain classified;
• Records which disclosure will constitute an unwarranted invasion of an individual’s personal privacy;
• Records compiled for law enforcement purposes;
• Records protected from release by statutes other than FOIA.