The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has disclosed that access to
information and data is the right of citizens and not a privilege, stating
that any institutional effort to deprive citizens of this right would
constitute a serious impediment to good governance and development.
Speaking at a forum organized by the Global Initiative for Fiscal
Transparency on the role of data standards and international initiatives
in mobilizing and monitoring financing for development commitments, on the
sidelines at the ongoing Third International Conference on Financing for
Development today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Vice President observed
that with the right political will, governments can ensure that citizens’
rights of access to data and information is upheld with appropriate
sanction where it is denied.
Prof. Osinbajo gave introductory remarks alongside the former Prime
Minister of New Zealand, and current UNDP Administrator, Ms. Helen Clark.
Afterwards other distinguished panelists including ministers from Belgium
and Bangladesh spoke at the forum to appraise the importance of openness
of information in the mobilization of resources for development.
The Vice President noted that such a culture of openness is a basic
prerequisite for governments to achieve transparency and accountability in
governance.
He informed stakeholders of efforts by the government of Nigeria to foster
the culture of open data through mechanisms such as the National
Extractive Industries and Transparency Initiative (NEITI) project and the
Freedom of Information Act. He averred that both have contributed greatly
in promoting openness and accountability thereby removing secrecy from
vital sectors of the nation’s economy particularly in the petroleum sector
of the oil and gas industry and government business in general.
The Vice President lauded the achievements recorded so far in this
direction observing that the progress underscore citizenship participation
in governance. But he was quick to add that the current regime of access
to information needs to be expanded and issues such as quality of
information and data available must be addressed.
Commending the Openness Initiative, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo opined that with
the entrenchment of the open data and information flow, the goal of
sustainable development can be easily achieved. He thus pledged the
commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration towards
promoting this culture stating that it can go a long way in fostering the
much desired objectives of good governance and virile development.