Technology Adoption Will Enhance Transparency – Centre

The Chief Executive Officer of the Public and Private Development Centre, Lucy James Abagi, stated that Nigeria’s future access to information will hinge on how quickly public institutions adopt technology to enhance transparency and improve compliance with the Freedom of Information Act.

She spoke yesterday in Abuja at a forum on the obligations of public institutions under the FOI Act, themed “Technology and FOIA Compliance in Nigeria.”

Abagi said proactive disclosure must become a standard administrative routine across Ministries, Departments and Agencies. She argued that budgets, procurement contracts, staff lists and corporate plans should be published regularly without waiting for requests.

She recommended what she called a “short, pragmatic checklist” for MDAs: a minimum disclosure template, a monthly publication schedule and machine-readable formats for budget and procurement files.

She added that simple digital handbooks and hands-on training would eliminate excuses for non-compliance.

Abagi emphasised the need to strengthen FOI desks, noting that delays in responses reflected gaps in capacity and process.

She urged MDAs to appoint trained FOI officers with clear performance indicators tied to response rates and the quality of replies.

According to her, centralised tools such as request-tracking systems and shared response templates would help ensure consistency and accountability.

She added that FOI compliance should form part of internal performance reviews for communications and administrative heads.

She also called for closing what she described as the “enforcement and incentive gap”.

While the FOI Ranking has created reputational pressure, she said more measures were needed, including public recognition for high-performing MDAs and corrective action for persistent defaulters.

Abagi highlighted the role of civil society, the media and development partners in supporting capacity-building while sustaining public pressure for reforms.

She emphasised that technology now offers tools that were unimaginable when the FOI Act was enacted, including digital repositories, automated disclosure systems, open contracting platforms such as Budeshi, artificial intelligence for sorting information and accessible data dashboards.

Abagi said expanding the FOI Ranking to states and local governments was a vital next step. She proposed a phased approach starting with pilot states, supported by a shared methodology and a central audit mechanism tailored to local realities.

To scale effectively, she recommended developing a modular methodology for states, creating a central training hub for FOI officers, and establishing a public portal that aggregates federal and state disclosures for easy comparison.

Abagi stressed that the FOI Ranking was designed to build capacity and enhance openness, not to apportion blame. Over the years, she noted, the exercise has stimulated policy discussions, encouraged inter-agency competition and generated data useful to journalists, researchers and oversight groups.

“Digitisation of records, online publication systems and centralised disclosure portals were no longer aspirations but essential tools for governance and transparency in Nigeria.”