In order to assure the creation of the data protection law, the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau is involving stakeholders.
A draft of the data protection bill has been made available for public review on the websites of the National Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the NDPB, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, as well as the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.
At an Abuja National Validation Workshop for the proposed National Data Protection Bill, he made this statement.
Dr. Walter Duru, Communications Manager for the Nigeria Digital Identification for Development initiative, previously stated that the NDPB intended to consult 500 stakeholders before sending the draft Nigeria Data Protection Bill to the National Assembly.
Solomon Odole, the project coordinator for the Nigeria Digital ID4D project, also promised that the project would continue to support attempts to pass a data protection law in Nigeria.
The PUNCH had previously reported that the data protection bill was rejected by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), in 2019 as a result of stakeholder concerns.
Isa Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, emphasized the need of having key laws in place during the validation workshop to safeguard the security, privacy, and confidentiality of data in Nigeria.
In order to ensure that the country’s major law was formed before the end of the year, he continued, the ministry was working hard with important stakeholders.
He declared, “Principal legislation must be in place to safeguard the security, privacy, and confidentiality of data.
The Bill will be sent to the Federal Executive Council for consideration, and if it is accepted by the FEC, the President will send it to the National Assembly so that they can begin the legislative process by the end of December 2022.
“The legislation is necessary to ensure that there is no gap in the system. We started the process of establishing primary legislation in Nigeria Data Protection law in order to guarantee the confidentiality, privacy, and security of the data of our citizens. Before the year is over, the ministry is working arduously with important stakeholders to leave behind a principal data protection law that is appropriate.