THURSDAY, MAY 8 2008
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FOI bill debate stalled again
The Freedom of Information (FOI) bill yesterday suffered another set back in the House of Representatives as its debate was again suspended.
This is the second time in a week that deliberation on the bill is suspended by the lawmakers.
The bill, which was slated in the Order Paper for consideration, could not be debated due to the absence of the main sponsor, Rep. Abike Dabiri (AC-Lagos).
Presiding Deputy Speaker, Usman Nafada had on Tuesday announced that the bill would be presented on the floor of the House yesterday.
He then called on all members to get prepared for deliberations on the bill, urging them to come with copies of their bill.
He said that contrary to the belief that the bill was ‘killed’ by the House, it was only the motion to take it that was rejected when Dabiri presented it.
Reacting to the decision of the House, Dabiri in a telephone interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said, “More Politics at work.’’
“The FOI bill was slated when I informed the Chairman Business and Rules that I would be attending a four-day conference which ends tomorrow,’’ she said.
Dabiri wondered why the bill would be slated for debate, knowing fully well that she had obtained permission to travel out of the country on legislative matters.
“I am here on oversight function forthe committe the meeting also approved the completion of outstanding food storage projects before the end of the year to significantly increase the capacity of the National Strategic Food Reserves from 300,000 tonnes to 600,000 tonnes.
The minister said that the federal government had already secured the commitment of three major rice producing countries to guarantee the availability of rice to its importers.
The countries are Thailand , Malaysia and India.
