ABUJA, Nigeria – The Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled in favour of the Media Rights Agenda, MRA, ordering the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to pay the organisation N1 million in damages.
This penalty is for the CBN’s wrongful denial of the MRA’s request for information regarding the bank’s data protection policies and practices.
According to a statement by the MRA, the court also directed the CBN to provide all the requested information from a May 22, 2020, letter.
This case began on June 15, 2020, when the MRA, through its lawyer, Darlington Onyekwere, filed a suit to contest the CBN’s refusal to release the requested information.
The MRA sought copies of all the CBN’s data protection policies in accordance with the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation, NDPR, 2019.
It also requested the names and contact details of the CBN’s designated Data Protection Officer and related data privacy instruments and protection directives.
The presiding judge reprimanded the CBN for not providing written notice to the MRA to access the requested documents.
As such, the judge issued an order compelling the CBN to release the requested information to the MRA.
According to a statement from MRA’s communications officer, Idowu Adewale, the court recognized the MRA’s right to damages for the unlawful violation of its right of access to information.
As a result, the court awarded the organization N1 million in damages.
However, the judge denied the MRA’s request for an order directing the Attorney General of the Federation to initiate criminal proceedings against the CBN for wrongful denial of access to information under Section 7(5) of the Freedom of Information Act.
