FOI ACT IN SPORT: Sport Minister Frustrating FOI ACT In Sport Ministry

The apex Sport body in Nigeria headed by the Sport Minister lacks transparency in her mode of operation, as there is no existing and publicized office of the Sport Ministry at Abuja. This was discovered recently when Sport Intelligence sent an FOI request to the office of the Sports Minister at the Federal Ministry of Youth And Sport, New Federal Secretariat Complex Maitama, Sule Garki Abuja. The address which happens to be the only online address of the Sports Ministry in Abuja happens not to be in use anymore, and no effort has been made by the Sport Ministry to publicize her new office address, thereby frustrating any effort for Nigerians to have access to the ministry. A two-page FOI request dated January 13, 2017 was sent to Minister of Youth And Sport development through the Nigerian Postal Service Express Delivery, seeking to know certain details about Nigeria's participation in the Rio Olympics held in 2016, but the Request was sent back from Garki Abuja on January 27th with notice showing that the Sport Minister had moved out of the Address. Inscriptions on the returned FOI ACT Request sent to the Sport Minister read "Packed Out" "No Such Address", but the Sports Ministry had the Garki Address published on the LIST AND ADDRESSES OF FEDERAL MINISTRIES IN NIGERIA published online as at press time. This is very unfortunate for a ministry that it took almost six months before the Minister was appointed as there is also no alternative email through which the Sport Minister can be reached. Efforts made to reach Solomon Dalung through phone proved abortive as the Minister did not even pick the calls.