By Kolawole Ojebisi
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), has warned individuals and organisations operating under the guise of Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) to extract information which they later use to blackmail or harass public officials, saying the action is sabotage rather than activism.
NEITI said this while lamenting the alleged misuse of Freedom of Information Act, describing the act as “a dangerous weaponisation of a noble democratic law to blackmail, harass, and extort public officials and government institutions.”
The agency identified the supposed perpetrators of the act as individuals and faceless groups posing as civil society and non-governmental organisations without any track record, known address, or institutional credibility.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, made this claim while speaking at a high-level roundtable commemorating 14 years of the FOI Act, on Thursday.
The event was held at NEITI House in Abuja,
“Let there be no mistake: this is not activism; it is sabotage,” Orji declared in his keynote address.
“These fake NGOs and touts parade false identities, file FOI requests under misleading pretences, and then engage in media blackmail and threats to extort money. They have no interest in facts or transparency. Their only mission is extortion. And it must stop,” he said.
This is contained in a statement signed by NEITI’s Deputy Director of Communications and Stakeholder Management, Chris Ochonu.
Ochonu further quoted Orji as saying that the FOI Act, passed in 2011, remains a “landmark law in Nigeria’s democratic journey, safeguarding citizens’ right to know and empowering them to hold government accountable”.
However, he warned that unless urgent measures are taken to safeguard the Act, it risks becoming a tool for intimidation and abuse rather than an instrument of transparency and accountability.
“At NEITI, we have responded to 72 FOI requests in the last decade, operate a dedicated FOI portal, maintain a proactive disclosure platform on our website, publish annual progress reports, hold regular media briefings and stakeholder forums, and submit annual compliance reports.
“Our reports, Beneficial Ownership Register, procurement processes, and implementation data are all proactively disclosed and freely accessible to the public.
“We are currently completing work on the NEITI Data Centre to enhance public access to credible information.
“But these fake NGOs ignore these disclosures and instead resort to threats aimed at coercion and extortion,” he said.
To address this growing menace, NEITI called for urgent legal and institutional reforms.
The agency also proposed several recommendations, including: amending the FOI Act to criminalise false claims, blackmail, and identity fraud; establishing an independent oversight and redress mechanism to verify the legitimacy of FOI requests; setting up FOI Units staffed with trained professionals in all MDAs; accelerating implementation of the FOI Act at the state level; and launching civic education campaigns to promote responsible use of the Act.
NEITI also urged all anti-corruption agencies — including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, and the Code of Conduct Bureau — to remain focused on their mandates and resist being distracted by the activities of faceless NGOs and fake CSOs.
Orji stressed the importance of distinguishing between genuine civil society oversight and fraudulent campaigns disguised as activism.
“The FOI Act is not a blackmail licence. It is a promise of truth, openness, and democratic empowerment.
“We must protect that promise from abuse. NEITI will not be intimidated, and we will continue to expose and resist such unethical conduct,” he said.
Also speaking at the event, the Executive Director of the Centre for Transparency Advocacy, Faith Nwadishi, reaffirmed NEITI’s reputation as a model of proactive disclosure and institutional responsiveness.
“NEITI’s reports are vital instruments of transparency. They guide FOI implementation and provide facts that expose corruption and support accountability,” she stated.
In her remarks, Civil Society Representative on the NEITI Board and National Coordinator of Publish What You Pay, Dr. Erisa Sarki, called for stronger multi-stakeholder vigilance and sustained advocacy to protect the FOI Act.
“We must not allow faceless actors to erode public trust in the FOI. Citizens deserve tools that empower, not harm them. The FOI Act must remain a shield for truth, not a sword for deception,” Sarki said.
