Court Orders CBN To Pay MRA N1m For Denial Of Information

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has been ordered by the Federal High Court in Abuja to pay MEDIA Rights Agenda, MRA, N1 million in damages for improperly denying access to information, the organization stated yesterday.

In a statement, the organization said that the court also ordered the apex bank to provide all the details it had requested in a letter dated May 22, 2020, regarding the bank’s data protection policies and procedures.

According to MRA, in the suit instituted against the CBN, CBN Governor and Attorney General of the Federation, Justice Donatus Uwaezuoke Okorowo held that the failure of the apex 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, signed by the Communications Officer, MRA, Idowu Adewale, read: “MRA filed the suit on June 15, 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 May 22, 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.