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National Assembly Vows to Pass Data Protection Bill in 30 days
The National Assembly has promised to pass the Data Protection Bill within 30 days once it receives the bill from the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
The pledge was made by Yakubu Oseni, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Cybercrime, at a one-day sensitisation workshop on data protection for members of the National Assembly held in Abuja on Monday.
Oseni stated that since the federal government established an organisation for data protection, a law must be enacted to regulate its operations. He promised the Nigerian Data Protection Bureau (NDPB) that the proposed data protection bill will be passed.
“I want to assure that as National Assembly members we will make sure we do justice to the bill. We need to give legal backing to the agency,” he said.
“We are waiting for them to bring the bill and we will ensure it gets to the president within One month.This is a legislation that is supposed to have seen the light of the day since 2019. But unfortunately when the bill was sent to the president it was not assented to by the president.
“Now that it’s coming from the executive side; I believe that it will see the light of the day.
“This is an agency set up to protect the data of individuals and organisations. Before there is no such law.
“As an individual you have right to say no that someone shouldn’t use you data. It should be a law for somebody to say you consent before using your data.Your data is your property, your data is your life, your data is you, and before somebody have access to your data in any form then they have to seek your consent.”
The Chairman, House Committee on Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Cybercrime, Abubakar Lado, also assured the agency of the legislative support of Federal House of Representatives,
“As the National Assembly, we are committed to the well being of Nigerians. We want to assure the agency that anytime the bill comes to us we will ensure its speedy passage,” he said.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Pantami, who spoke virtually, harped on the importance of the bill to data privacy and confidentiality. “The event is to sensitise our national assembly members before the executive bill is presented to the national assembly so that you (legislators) can block all the gaps,” he said.
“This bill will ensure the privacy and confidentiality of the data of our citizens,” he added
Dr Vincent Olatunji, the National Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer of NDPB, responding to questions said: “By October we will send the bill to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy who will forward it to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for it to be sent as an Executive bill to the National Assembly.”
Speaking earlier in his welcome address, he said the agency has created over 8000 jobs by certifying over 5000 data protection experts.
“Our belief is that the bill will be passed before the end of this year,” he said.
Project Coordinator, Nigeria Digital Identification for Development (ID4D) Solomon Odole stressed the need to carry all relevant stakeholders to ensure the bill get presidential assent.
‘We need to carry all relevant stakeholders along, such as NIMC, Legislations and all other relevant stakeholders. Because we know that if they’re not carried along the bill may suffer same faith with the previous one,” he said.
Nigeria has launched an emergency response centre after recording 190 deaths from Lassa fever, a viral hemorrhagic illness, according to Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC).
The disease, mainly transmitted to humans via contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or excrement, has infected 1,154 people in six Nigerian states.
Jide Idris, head, Nigerian Center for Disease Control, said the agency’s risk assessment has categorized it as high, prompting the activation of the emergency Operations Centre to manage the outbreak.
“While the disease occurs throughout the year, peak transmission typically happens between October and May, coinciding with the dry season when human exposure to rodents increases,” he said at a press briefing in Abuja.
The centre will ensure seamless coordination of the control and management of the outbreak.
Symptoms of the virus – which can also be passed between people through bodily fluids of those infected – include fever, headaches and, in the most severe cases, death.
The World Health Organization classifies Lassa fever as a priority disease due to its epidemic potential and lack of approved vaccines.
Federal government has proposed to spend N1.5bn for internet services for passengers at five international airports in the country.
The project, “Provision/Upgrade of WiFi Services for Passengers in Five International Airports and some Domestic Airports” was listed as a new project in the 2025 appropriation.
In some parts of the world, access to the internet via Wi-Fi at airports is regarded to be a basic human right.
Such amenities are lacking in Nigeria.
But the 2025 budget presented to the National Assembly last week by President Bola Tinubu saw the sum of N105.953,496,365 being allocated to the Ministry of Aviation.
Apart from internet access at the airports, some other capital allocations were reinstated for the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).
In previous budgets, three agencies of the ministry including the apex regulatory agency, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and NAMA were exempted from the annual budgetary allocation.
In addition, the federal government deducts 50 per cent of the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), which is against the standard and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which recommends that the funds generated by the agencies should be reinvested into improving infrastructure and boosting aviation safety.
Fidelis Egueke, former bank manager, , has been convicted and sentenced to six months in prison by an Asaba, Delta State Chief Magistrate’s Court for defrauding a victim of $46,900.
Chief Magistrate Callistus Isioma Moeteke found Egueke guilty of a single charge brought against him by the police under case number CMA/295c/2024.
Raphael Eze, prosecutor, of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Asaba, said Egueke, a former Asaba branch manager of a tier-one bank, fraudulently obtained $46,900 by using two Certificates of Occupancy (CofOs) as collateral.
One of the land titles, however, was not his, and the other was fake.
After receiving the money, Egueke used it for personal expenses and failed to repay the victim as promised.
The prosecution argued that Egueke’s actions violated Section 419 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap C21, Vol.1 Laws of Delta State, Nigeria, 2006.
Despite denying the offence, Egueke failed to present evidence of repayment during the trial.
Chief Magistrate Moeteke determined that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Egueke was convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment.
However, the court also gave him the option to pay a fine of N350,000 in lieu of serving the prison term.
The court ordered Egueke to pay N30 million in restitution to the victim within six months of his conviction.
The charge against Egueke stated that, in 2016, he fraudulently obtained a credit facility worth $46,900 (approximately N60 million) from Chief Jude Ndudi by presenting false documents, including land titles that did not belong to him, in violation of Section 419 of the Criminal Code Law.
Egueke is also facing trial before a Lagos Federal High Court on charges related to a separate fraud case involving N179.498 million.
He is being prosecuted by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (ForceCID), Annex Alagbon-Ikoyi, Lagos.
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