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The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is an Act that gives a person, group, association, or organisation the right to access information from Government Agencies, Parastatals, Federal Civil Service, Private and Public sector organisations providing public services, etc.

Any person, group, association, organization, etc. can make a request for information under the FOIA. The request must be in writing with a clear description of the information being sought, and in compliance with specific institutional requirements.

To get information under the FOIA, a request must be made either electronically (e.g. email) or by letter in written form, describing the information sought, and the preferred format of the response, in as much detail as possible.

The Legal Unit of the agency is responsible for responding to a FOIA request.

Letters should be addressed as follows.

The Director General,

National Agency for the control of AIDS, NACA

No 3, Ziguinchor Street, Wuse Zone 4,

Abuja, Nigeria.

ATTN: Head – FOIA Officer

Unless an exemption applies, the information, if it is held by the Commission, must be provided to the requester within 7 working days.

Yes. If a staff of the Commission conceals, alters or deliberately destroys information, the staff would be liable to prosecution, with the penalty of a fine of N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) only [Section 7(5)], or imprisonment for a minimum term of one (1) year [Section 10].

While the FOIA gives a person, group, association or organization the right to request access to Federal records, some records are exempted from release. These documents include but are not limited to;

• National security records which have been lawfully classified on national security grounds and remain classified.
• Records whose disclosure will constitute an unwarranted invasion of an individual’s personal privacy.
• Records compiled for law enforcement purposes.
• Records protected from release by statutes other than FOIA.