Buratai: Publisher Sues People’s Gazette Over Failure To Comply With FOI Act

By Dansu Peter 

The management of the online newspaper, Peoples Gazette, has been dragged to court over failure to comply with the Freedom of Information Act as regards an online publication on former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai. 

The medium had published a story on June 23 titled ‘ICPC recovers multibillion-naira cash, Rolex watches stockpiled in ex-army chief Buratai’s Abuja property’.

Among others, it quoted a source to have disclosed that operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission conducted a raid that led to the recovery of over a billion naira.

The Commission has since cleared the country’s ambassador to Benin Republic. 

A publisher, Isah Bello, therefore, asked the company to furnish it with further information as permitted by the FOI Act 2011. 

In a letter dated June 28, the defendant said it sort further information on the subject.

But Bello said the company declined the request in his affidavit before a High Court in Abuja dated June 12. 

“Up till the time of filing this action, the Defendant have failed, neglected and refused to make available the information requested giving the impression that the defendant wanted merely to tarnish the image of the former Army Chief,” the affidavit said in part. 

“The defendant have no reason whatsoever to deny the plaintiff access to Information sought after”.