Media Rights Agenda (MRA) said on Wednesday that the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to pay it N1 million damages for wrongful denial of access to information.
In a statement, the group said the court also directed the CBN to make available all the information it requested in its 22nd May 2020 letter regarding the bank’s data protection policies and practices.
According to MRA, in the suit instituted against CBN, CBN Governor and the Attorney General of the Federation, Justice Donatus Uwaezuoke Okorowo held that the failure of the regulatory bank to disclose or make available to MRA the information it requested amounts to a violation of its right of access to information established and guaranteed by Sections 1(1) and 4 of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 and also constituted a wrongful denial of access to information under section 7(5) of the Act.
The statement by MRA Communications Officer, Idowu Adewale read: “MRA filed the suit on 15 June 2020, through its lawyer, Mr. Darlington Onyekwere, challenging the CBN’s refusal to disclose the information it applied for and asked the court to compel the bank and its governor to make available the information it requested in its 22nd May 2020.
”It also asked, among other things, for copies of all the CBN’s data protection policies issued in conformity with the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation, NDPR, 2019; the name and contact details of the CBN’s Data Protection Officer, designated in accordance with the NDPR and its relevant data privacy instruments and data protection directives.
“MRA had also asked for details of all capacity building training or other capacity building activities undertaken for the Data Protection Officer and other CBN personnel involved in any form of data processing since the issuance of the NDPR, among others”.
