FOI: Soyinka Seeks Probe Of Yar’Adua’s Death

Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka on Thursday asked President Goodluck Jonathan to get cracking with the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act by ordering investigation into the death of his predecessor, Umaru Yar’Adua, whose demise on May 5 last year touched off controversy.

Soyinka said at the annual general meeting of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) in Lagos that Nigerians deserve to know those who concealed the true state of health of Yar’Adua from November 22, 2009 until his death.

To him, the point of the FoI Act is to bring to public knowledge incidents that portray the country in bad light, such as the concealment of the health condition of Yar’Adua.

He challenged Jonathan to unravel the circumstances of Yar’Adua’s medical treatment in Suadi Arabia, and his eventual demise, both of which are still shrouded in secrecy.

Soyinka acknowledged that Jonathan has set up commission of enquiry into the issue, “But I am challenging him to use the FoI Act to investigate those involved in the concealment,  how was this possible, what documents were involved, was any member of the Senate involved, were there public officers involved, whose signature appears on that document, who are the members of security involved  physically?

“That episode is over but knowledge is unending  and so I am challenging the government of Jonathan and the public to put this Freedom of Information Act to the test with  the melodramatic incident that happened in this country for more than one year.

“It is a once in a life time incident, and you can say that is the dramatist in me looking for materials, but as a citizen I have a right to know and I am compelling Jonathan to proceed with this Act by setting up the proceedings and panel that will find out what happened to (Yar’Adua) within this period."

Governors Babatunde Fashola (Lagos) and Babangida Aliyu (Niger), who were also at the event, maintained that governance is a matter of trust, and the era of concealing information from the public by those elected to govern is over.

They said during a session chaired by former NPAN President Ismaila Funtua that the public has the right to have access to whatever information it needs, and disclosed that plans are afoot in their states to enlighten their staff on the essence of the FoI Act.

Fashola, however, maintained the same position as federal Attorney General and Justice Minister, Mohammed Adoke, that there is no need for the domestication of the Act as canvassed by some states.

He reiterated that it is a federal legislation, and urged the executive to understand that the motive of the legislation is to liberate the country from the clogs in its wheel of progress. 

Canadian Federal Information Commissioner,  Susan Leagault, who delivered a lecture, charged the media and civil society to mount continuous pressure on the government to implement the FoI Act, and urged Nigeria to be prepared to fund its effective implementation.