Lawyers Call For Repeal Of Official Secrets Act

Legal practitioners person appealed to the Nigerian Law Reform Commission to repeal the Official Secrets Act of 1962 to fortify the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) 2011.
They made the telephone successful Abuja yesterday astatine a roundtable treatment connected the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) No.4, 2011, organised by the commission.

In his presumption titled, “Assessing the scope and clarity of close to entree accusation nether the Freedom of Information Act 2011”, Prof. Peter Akper (SAN) called for a repeal of the Official Secrets Act.
He said the enactment of FoIA has not repealed the Official Secrets Act, which hinders its implementation.
Akper said, “Implementing the FoIA demands a cautious reappraisal of the provisions of the Official Secrets Act (OSA), 1962. The constituent to enactment is that the FoIA has not repealed the OSA provisions. What it has done is to repeal those provisions of the OSA that are inconsistent with FoIA.”

He besides projected the hold of the clip bounds from 7 to 21 days successful the FoIA.
He said the 7 days were unrealistic due to the fact that of the country’s administrative procedures.

“In this regard, it whitethorn beryllium indispensable to reappraisal the clip bounds for disclosing accusation nether the Act from 7 to 21 days to code the applicable problems inherent successful the existing provision.

The president of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission, Prof. Dakas C.J. Dakas (SAN), successful his remarks, reaffirmed the commission’s committedness to strategical instrumentality betterment for nationalist transformation, successful a mode that renews the hopes and aspirations of Nigerians and different stakeholders successful the Nigerian ineligible system.

According to him, strategical instrumentality betterment is necessitated by the information that “we unrecorded successful a clip erstwhile outdated oregon ambiguous ineligible frameworks hinder innovation, economical growth, justness delivery, and societal progress. Many of our laws, immoderate dating backmost to assemblage times, nary longer bespeak existent realities oregon align with planetary champion practices.

“Strategic instrumentality betterment is, therefore, a nationalist imperative. Through strategical reform, we tin heighten entree to information, combat corruption, fortify institutions, beforehand easiness of doing business, guarantee sex equity, support the vulnerable, heighten entree to justice, and yet alteration society,” helium said.

He said a dependable ineligible betterment volition fortify the institutions that prolong ideology and development.

He reiterated that the committee is statutorily mandated to undertake the systematic review, modernisation and betterment of laws to conform with the prevailing norms of justice, societal conditions and planetary champion practices.