The Citizen Voice Against Corruption (CIVAC) has called on the Federal Government to review the Freedom of Information Act to strengthen loopholes that allow misuse of the Act by civil society organisations.
CIVAC, during a roundtable stakeholders’ discussion with the Freedom of Information Coalition in Nigeria in Abuja, alleged that the FOI Act was being abused by CSOs to threaten government agencies and public officials and in some cases to stall projects through court injunctions.
The lead convener of CIVAC, Abdulrazak Alkali, said: “Certain actors, especially unscrupulous civil society organisations and individuals, are abusing this right to generate stories that betray the greater truth.”
Earlier, a staff member of the Legal Department of the Tertiary Institution Fund, Aisha Umar, said: “Sometimes we get requests from individuals with threats; they will tell us that if the information is not provided on a stipulated date, we will be sued.
“They do not care if it may take weeks or months or get what they are looking for.”
