FEC approves Nigeria Data Protection

The Federal Executive Council (FEC)has approved the Nigeria Data Protection Bill to be transmitted to the National Assembly as an Executive Bill.

Mr Babatunde Bamigboye, Head, Legal, Enforcement and Regulations of the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB), in a statement issued in Abuja said the bill was approved on Wednesday.

Bamigboye said the bill would be transmitted through the office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN.

It will be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the establishment of NDPB on Feb. 4,2022 with a mandate to implement the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) and to coordinate the passage of an enabling Act for data protection.

Prof. Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy presented the bill which has its major aim of safeguarding the fundamental rights, freedoms and the interests of data subjects as guaranteed under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

Part of the contents of the bill includes providing for the regulation of processing of personal data, promoting data processing practices that safeguard the security of personal data and privacy of data subjects.

The bill also seeks to ensure that personal data is processed in a fair, lawful and accountable manner and intervene in cases of data breaches, among other objectives.

The National Commissioner of NDPB, Dr Vincent Olatunji, while accompanying the minister to the meeting called on all stakeholders to cooperate with the Federal Government in ensuring the sustainability of the abundant opportunities in Nigeria’s digital economy.

“With the full support demonstrated by the administration of President Buhari, a clear signal had been sent to the global data processing ecosystem.

“It goes to show that Nigeria is committed to safeguarding fundamental rights and freedoms of Nigerians which may be impacted one way or the other by the activities of data controllers and data processors,” Olatunji said.