September 30, 2026 – Uyo, Nigeria
Stakeholders have called for stronger enforcement of Freedom of Information (FOI) laws and improved proactive disclosure by public institutions across the Niger Delta, as new data revealed a widening information gap that is undermining transparency and accountability in the region. The call was made at a virtual dialogue convened to mark the 2026 International Day for Universal Access to Information, under the theme “Strengthening Access to Public Information and Accountability in the Digital Age: Perspectives from the Niger Delta.” The event was organised by the Niger Delta Open Governance Observatory (NOGO), an initiative of Policy Alert, in collaboration with Open Alliance Nigeria, and brought together citizens, civil society organisations, journalists, researchers and public institutions to examine the state of information access in the region
Setting the tone for the conversation, the Executive Director of Policy Alert Tijah Bolton-Akpan stated that the Niger Delta Open Government Observatory is a coalition of civil society organisations formed in 2017 and led by Policy Alert working to improve open government knowledge, information, innovation, and advocacy in the Niger Delta. He also stated that ranking, which is a bi-annual regional assessment of access to public information across the Niger Delta, is necessary to deepen citizens’ engagement. He also observed that the ranking is necessary considering that the Niger Delta is a complex ecosystem of rich but poor sub-nationals with unemployment, maternal mortality, degraded environment and low life expectancy, yet the region has huge revenue flows from agencies such as the NDDC, Ministry of Niger Delta, 13 percent derivation, FAAC allocation and more recently the PIA HCDT’s.This paradox creates a high demand for access to publicly held information to enable citizens to ask the right questions to improve transparency, accountability and service delivery.
The dialogue featured the unveiling of the proposed Niger Delta FOI Ranking 2026, a regional assessment designed to track how well states in the Niger Delta comply with FOI obligations. Presenting the rationale and framework for the ranking, Faith Paulinus, Lead, Governance Reforms and Anti-Corruption at Policy Alert, disclosed that a 2024 baseline assessment found that only 3 out of 180 FOI requests sent to public institutions in the region received a response, representing a response rate of just 1.7 percent. The same assessment found an average proactive disclosure score of 8.33 percent across the nine Niger Delta states, and that only one of the nine states, Imo, currently has its own FOI law; Delta State passed an FOI bill in 2019 that has yet to receive assent.
The 2024 baseline scores placed Abia State first with 35 out of 100 points, followed by Delta and Imo in second place with 30 points each, while Cross River and Edo tied for third with 15 points each. Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Ondo and Rivers ranked lowest, with Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Delta reported to have rejected information requests outright.
The event also featured a spotlight session on how information gaps affect accountability, drawing on insights from BudgIT’s post-subsidy fiscal assessment, which excluded Akwa Ibom and Rivers States due to the unavailability of public fiscal information. Speakers noted that this exclusion illustrates how a lack of disclosure can shut oil-producing states out of national accountability processes altogether. A panel session on “From Information Gaps to Information Integrity” brought together representatives of civil society and the media to discuss the barriers citizens and journalists face in accessing public information, and the role digital tools can play in closing these gaps while guarding against misinformation.
Participants at the dialogue called for strengthened enforcement of FOI laws by public institutions across the Niger Delta; enactment of state-level FOI laws in states that currently lack them, improved proactive disclosure of budgetary and fiscal information by state governments, and continued collaboration between civil society, media and public institutions to sustain pressure for transparency.
Organisers announced that the Niger Delta FOI Ranking 2026 will build on the 2024 baseline to provide an updated, comparative assessment of information access across the region, and invited civil society organisations, researchers and institutions to collaborate on the initiative going forward
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For more information, contact:
Abasiama Cyril
0701 093 8024
