The Media Rights Agenda has condemned a publication by BluePrint Newspaper for supporting a threat by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr George Akume for threatening to jail whistleblowers from government establishment.
Akume had recently said officials who are found revealing government secrets without authorization were committing a felony.
The MRA, through its Deputy Executive Director, Mr. Ayode Longe, in a statement described the SGF’s speech as illogical and false.
The MRA, in a statement signed by the Head of Legal department, Ms Obioma Okonkwo, noted that Blueprint’s editorial was “riddled with outright falsehoods, inaccuracies and sheer ignorance, disturbing and deserving of a rebuttal”
The statement partly read: “Blueprint stated in its editorial that the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act is neither inconsistent nor incongruous with the Official Secrets Act and does not invalidate, vitiate, void or repeal the Official Secrets Act.
“We agree that the FOI Act does not repeal the Official Secret Act and we never claimed or implied otherwise in our statement citing Section 27(2) of the Act, which states that “Nothing contained in the Criminal Code or Official Secrets Act shall prejudicially affect any public officer who, without authorization, discloses to any person, an information which he reasonably believes to show mismanagement, gross waste of funds, fraud, and abuse of authority; or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety notwithstanding that such information was not disclosed pursuant to the provision of this Act.”
“But Blueprint was hopelessly wrong when it claimed that “It is trite to state that the FOI Act is neither inconsistent nor incongruous to the Official Secrets Act”, perhaps deliberately so, to enable it to advance a false narrative.
“What is clear from Section 27(2) of the FOI Act is that there is a clear conflict between the Official Secrets Act of 1962, which seeks to criminalize and punish public officials who disclose information without authorization, and the FOI Act of 2011, which represents a change in public policy in accordance with current international norms and standards, and protects public officials who disclose without authorization information in the public interest. Therein lies the incongruity and inconsistency between the two laws.”
Hafsah Muhammed Ibrahim, from Bauchi State, is a literary enthusiast and an advocate for women’s rights. As the Editor and Lead Podcaster at WikkiTimes, she draws on her background in Sociology and Education to create compelling narratives that amplify the voices of marginalized communities.
An avid Scrabble player and tea enthusiast, Hafsah blends her passion for storytelling with a strong commitment to driving social change.
