Thread by @ChidiOdinkalu

#Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission, @NHRCTweets, a public body bound by the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA), has in the past week ordered all its staff to sign & subscribe to forms of "Oath of Secrecy" - very much like a #SecretCult

Issued under directive of the Executive Secretary of @NhrcTweets, the #SecrecyOath applies to all staff of @NhrcTweets. The leadership of the Commission claims that the oath of Secrecy is required by Rule 62 of the Commission's Standing Orders & Rules of Procedure, #STORP

Contrary to the claims of the leadership of @NhrcTweets, however, the Standing Orders & Rules of Procedure, #STORP, of the Commission don't in any way support #SecrecyOaths. Quite clearly, the leadership have chosen to mis-represent the relevant rules of the #STORP

The fact that this idea of administering a #SecrecyOath on staff of @NhrcTweets mis-represents the #STORP can easily be verified by anyone interested from the full text of the Standing Orders & Rules of Procedure which is downloadable from this link:
premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/fil…

The leadership of @NhrcTweets commits 2 errors. 1st, they deliberately equate "secrecy" with confidentiality. The former has no place in the Commission; the latter applies to casework. 2nd, they make this applicable to all staff not those working on cases
slaw.ca/2016/06/13/jud…

I now understand the Staff Union of @NhrcTweets has instructed all staff not to sign up to these #SecrecyOaths, effectively setting up a stand-off between the management & staff of the Commission, which is both avoidable & needless. The Management is in the wrong.

In any case, @NhrcTweets is an institution that shd be at the #CuttingEdge of promoting access to information & transparency in government. Surely, it shd be the last institution to emulate the oathing practice of #SecretCults & outlaw societies.

These developments owe very much to the absence of leadership in the Commission as a result of the failure of @MBuhari to appoint a new Governing Council for @NhrcTweets. The vacuum in appointment of a Governing Council is corrosive & it shows.

It's ironic that it's the @NhrcTweets Staff Union arguing for respect for the #FOIA while the Management subverts the Act, claiming that #FoIA has nothing to do with their #SecrecyOath. This is the awful reality of today's #Nigeria, where Human Rights Commission is #SecretCult.