The Citizens Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights has advised Governor Alex Otti to establish strong institutions that can help preserve his legacy.

CCIDESOR’s executive director, Emeka Ononammadu, gave the advice on Tuesday at a one-day ‘Freedom of Information Act Roundtable for Stakeholders in Umuahia’.

Mr Ononammadu said the strongest anchor for Mr Otti’s good legacies in Abia would be to build strong institutions that could withstand future bad leaders in the state.

Mr Ononammadu said that concrete actions should be taken to save the nation’s future from bad leadership. He cited the achievements of the former governor of the defunct Imo state, Sam Mbakwe, and some of the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s achievements, noting that bad leadership had destroyed their noble efforts.

He said that Mr Otti and other performing governors must recreate their Local Governments and make them functional to sustain their good work, or risk losing them after leaving office.

Mr Ononammadu said that Nigerians had the option of reawakening and building sustainable good governance by reviving the local government system, or of continuing to suffer under bad political leadership.

He said that under the act, the government had permitted citizens to check and verify its activities by requesting, receiving, and utilising information available to them for the common good.

Mr Ononammadu further said that the roundtable was organised to ensure that necessary actions were taken creatively to make the local government system work again in the country through open governance.

He said that under section two of the FOI Act – Proactive Disclosure – MDAs and LGAs should release information without waiting for a citizen’s request.

Mr Ononammadu said the act was enacted to compel MDAs and LGAs to perform the duties they already owe Nigerians, adding that adhering to its guidelines would make the local government system stronger and more effective.

The coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission in Abia, Uche Nwokocha, in her lecture, focused on using the FoI Act to retrieve information at the local government levels.

Ms Nwokocha said that the act was a component of the Freedom of Expression provision, which many countries, including Nigeria, have in their constitutions.

She said that the Act, being a Fundamental Human Right, allows citizens to request information from public organisations and private organisations funded or transacting on behalf of the public.

Ms Nwokocha said the Act supersedes the 1911 Official Secrets Act, which protects officers from disclosing information for public interest. She said that when local councils give information, they boost good governance  and political participation.

She advocated that LGAs create websites and FOI desks to ensure they respond to information requests on time, thereby improving good governance.

(NAN)