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The Freedom of
Information bill (FOI), one of the oldest bills in the National
Assembly, which has once been rejected by lawmakers and former
President Olusegun Obasanjo, has resurfaced in the House of
Representatives for fresh considerations.

Lawmakers now hope
the bill, which was passed before but denied presidential assent in
2007, may after all be made law this time although they are not sure of
the time.

Yesterday, the
House recommitted the proposed law to two of its committees:
Information and National Orientation and Justice, revoking an earlier
decision which was seen as a death knell for the proposed Act.

“The House resolves
to rescind its decision of Wednesday, November 14, 2007 on the said
bill and order its re-committal to the joint committee on Information
and National Orientation and Justice,” reads a motion filed Thursday to
that effect and affirmed by the House without debates.

First introduced in
1999 as a non-member bill sponsored by Media Rights Agenda, the
document which has 34 sections was refused passage at the House as well
as the senate. It was recommitted in 2003 and eventually passed in 2007
towards the closing of the fifth session of the National Assembly.

Still, Mr Obasanjo
withheld his approval citing infringement on state security; a
possibility the administration said could be enhanced if certain
sections of the law were allowed as proposed.

The current session
of lawmakers received the bill anew in 2007 amid mounting opposition by
many members who have not concealed their disdain for the proposals. An
order has kept the bill awaiting plenary considerations since 2007.

Both chambers
announced ahead of their resumption weeks ago, that the FOI bill will
now be part of a number of delayed bills due for greater attention
before leaving office, others being the Petroleum Industry Bill and the
Anti-Terrorism bill.

The House yesterday
recommitted the FOI bill to the two committees for “thorough scrutiny”
withdrawing the order that kept it awaiting plenary considerations. It
did not state any date for the completion of work on the bill.

The decision came
about a week after the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, pressed
the lawmakers to accelerate work on the proposal.

Ita Enang, the Chairman House committee on Business and Rules, who
led 20 others to ask for the new decision, said “the need has now
arisen for the house to revisit the said decision on the bill in the
public interest.” Without a clear timeline, the new order neither
negates nor affirms an earlier position of chairman House committee on
Information, Aliyu Wadada who said the bill may not be passed before
lawmakers leave office in May.