President Aigbokhan, founder of the Freedom of Information Counsel, has strongly criticized the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for demanding over ₦1.5 billion to process a request for Nigeria’s complete national voters’ register and the list of all polling units. In a detailed statement issued on Friday, Aigbokhan described the fee as “staggering” and a violation of the spirit and letter of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2011.
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The controversy arose after law firm VC Ottaokpuku & Associates formally requested access to the entire voters’ register, encompassing a voting population of 93.4 million, stored by INEC in both hard and digital formats. INEC’s response set the processing cost at ₦1,505,901,750 (One Billion, Five Hundred and Five Million, Nine Hundred and One Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty Naira Only), sparking public debate over transparency, accountability, and compliance with FOIA.
Aigbokhan highlighted the urgent need for proactive disclosure by public institutions and proper budgetary allocations for record management and public access. He noted that under FOIA, every public institution has a statutory duty to organize and maintain records in a way that facilitates easy access, even if applicants do not specify a preferred format. Imposing exorbitant fees, he argued, effectively amounts to an indirect denial of information.
The FOI Counsel president outlined the key benchmarks for FOIA compliance: the establishment of dedicated FOI desks or units, prompt and full responses to requests, submission of annual compliance reports to the Attorney-General of the Federation, regular updating of websites with accurate public information, professional treatment of requesters, and continuous staff training on FOI standards. “These are not procedural niceties; they are the core indicators of transparency and accountability in public service,” he stressed.
Aigbokhan also compared Nigeria’s FOIA implementation with global standards. He pointed out that in the United States, the total cost of FOIA administration across federal agencies in 2024 was estimated at $725.8 million, with only 0.3% recovered from user fees. In the United Kingdom, the average cost per FOI request is £293, with minimal printing costs, while Canada and Ireland cover nearly all FOIA operational expenses. “Governments recognize that access to information is a public good, not a revenue source,” he said.
Applying this logic to Nigeria, Aigbokhan noted that duplicating 2.3 million A2 sheets of the voters’ register at ₦250 per sheet was disproportionate and unreasonable. “At that price, one might expect the papers to be printed on gold leaf,” he quipped. He further questioned whether INEC tracks administrative costs, such as the hours spent by public officers, consultations, printing, or data retrieval, noting that the absence of such practices has resulted in inflated and inconsistent FOIA fees across Nigerian MDAs.
The statement underscored that denying citizens access to public information through inflated costs effectively disenfranchises them from governance. “Where is a private citizen or law firm expected to raise over one billion naira to access public information?” Aigbokhan asked, emphasizing that transparency should never be priced beyond the reach of the people.
To prevent future controversies, Aigbokhan called for explicit budgetary allocations for FOIA implementation, including resources to develop proactive disclosure systems that reduce reliance on individual requests.
Finally, he urged the new INEC chairman to immediately withdraw the excessive fee and publish the national voters’ register online, including names, photographs, ages, and sex. “Doing so will not only fulfill INEC’s proactive disclosure obligation under the Freedom of Information Act but also signal a commitment to openness, accountability, and public trust,” Aigbokhan said.
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