From Legal Right to Institutional Reality: Freedom of Information Act, Public Records, and Investigative Access in Nigeria
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Institutions still severely restrict access to information, even under the Freedom of Information Act, through political manipulation, corruption, and systemic non-compliance. Drawing on conceptual analysis and theoretical synthesis, including Libertarian and Authoritarian theories of the press, the paper argues that while the legal architecture supporting information rights exists, its practical implementation is severely undermined. Government agencies routinely ignore FOI requests, journalists face persecution and physical harm, and civil society organisations struggle to fill the accountability gap. The paper recommends strengthening FOI enforcement, reforming public institutions and the civil service, and enacting legislation protecting investigative journalists, and argues for a shift in the relationship between the public and public institutions toward a more libertarian orientation
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