Having read the analysis provided, I thought it would be helpful if i explain the basic FOI principle because there is a misundetstanding of the whole process?

My understanding of FOI stems from over 9 years of designing, managing and implementing FOI Strategy in government departments in the United Kingdom and I am also the author of FOI book entitled "Freedom of Information Act 2011 - A Practical Guide For Nigerians". So I have read and studied the practicability of the Act.

There are three simple questions I will answer and I will provide reasonable explanations after...

Can a citizen demand information about the State finance from the governor? Yes

Can a citizen demand information about meetings? Yes

In an ideal situation, the citizen should be directing information about finances to the appropriate finance department but there is nothing in the FOI Act 2011 that discourage demanding that information from the Governor because the Act actually accommodate that situation

In the FOI Act, if a request is received by a public body meant for another section; then the law provides procedure for handling that process

I believe the question that we need to ask at this point is why a citizen will prefer to send the information to the governor instead of the commissioner of finance or the finance ministry and we all know why:

1. Lack of Informatiom about how to obtain that data conveyed to the citizen

2. Lack of publication scheme which is a requirement under the law that all public institution should publish the list of data that the public could demand to see

On the issue of the govenor's meetings and getting access to these information. As a rule of thumb, minutes of meetings held by the governor should be published and I normally advise government officials not to write down or talk about what they are not comfortable to make public (laughing). However, it is important to state that not all meetings held by the governor are accessible for the following reasons:

1. Security meetings are exempted (State Security)

2. Meetings linked to policy formations are exempted

3. Personal meetings are exempted

There are other exemptions such as issues about international relations, active investigation, etc but it is sensible and better to be proactive by publishing everything if you have nothing to hide as a government

Doctor-Client Relationship are protected under the Act but where state funds are issued in procuring treatment; there are ways to extract information within the law if the service of an FOI Expert is employed ...

Contrary to the assertion of the previous writer below; the purpose of FOI is openness thus it is not unreasonable to infer that FOI is a checkmate against abuse of power by government officials and it is meant to embrass them if they get things wrong...

It is also important to state clearly that the Governor is not protected by immunity clause but rather right to private life; meaning that no citizen can demand to know about the personal movement of the governor or the governor health of the governor except where it is in the 'public interest' that the information is known... At this point, you need to define 'public interest' for that, I will refer you to my book (www.lulu.com)