The enactment of the Freedom of Information Act in May 2011 was a milestone for various reasons, especially the belief that it would promote Nigeria's anti-corruption fight. Twelve years after, it was not clear the Act had truly been used in the fight against corruption. The study, therefore, examined the FOIA and the fight against corruption in Nigeria using journalists in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State as population and area of study. The study was anchored on the libertarian (free press) media theory, the diffusion of innovation theory and the knowledge gap theory. The survey design was adopted. The population of the study comprised 74 identified registered journalists in NUJ in Birnin Kebbi, making the sample size 74. The findings revealed that the FOIA impacted positively to the anti-graft war, though journalists have knowledge of the Act yet such level of knowledge was low, lacking understanding of the nitty-gritty of the law. The study revealed that challenges of the FOIA on the fight against corruption included: difficulties in processing and retrieving information due to delays and bottlenecks by civil servants, costs of hiring lawyers, low knowledge of the Act by civil servants etc. The study therefore recommended among others that: orientation campaigns should be carried out by media owners and media organisations like Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) and Newspapers Guild of Editors for their members on in dept knowledge and applicability of the FOIA.
Vol. 1, No 2, pp. 144-155.