A committee for the security of the ICT infrastructure and the cyberspace during the general elections of 2023 was officially launched on Thursday by Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Ibrahim Pantami.
The committee was established to advise the Federal Government on necessary actions to take in protecting the nation's cyberspace and ICT infrastructure from potential assaults. It would be led by Prof. Adeolu Akande, Chairman of NCC.
Elections: Pantami Inaugurates committee for cyberspace, ICT infrastructure protection
In a statement signed by Reuben Muoka, the Director of Public Affairs at NCC, the Minister, who was acting in place of President Muhammadu Buhari, stated that the Minister had stated that the Committee's constitution was at the President's direction.
In order to prevent prospective cyberattacks, Pantami said the committee would coordinate computer security centres in the ICT sector with other pertinent institutions.
He said that with the rising use of ICT in online activities and its critical role in the conduct of the general elections in 2023 in accordance with the electoral legislation, as modified, the committee's work will help the country hold free, fair, and credible elections.
According to Pantami, the committee, to which he also belonged along with Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, and Kashifu Abdullahi, Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), will work around the clock.
They would work from Friday, February 24 to Monday, February 27, 2023, he stated.
He added that the Committee will see to it that any complaints regarding assaults on vital infrastructure were received and escalated to the appropriate public or private organisations for the required corrective actions.
He said that the Committee included important agency directors as well as the Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy Backbone, Prof. Mohammad Abubakar, and the Special Assistant to the Minister on Digital Economy, Prof. Aminu Ahmad.
“Our main responsibilities in this Committee are more of advisory. Firstly, when it comes to intercepting potential attacks that may come to our cyberspace.
"The committee will coordinate the NCC’s Computer Security Incident Response Team at NCC, the Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team at NITDA and the Galaxy Backbone’ National Cybersecurity Centre.
“These three centres must work together, complement each other and ensure they intercept any potential attacks on our cyberspace, particularly on our Critical Infrastructure during the election so that we could either take action or provide necessary advice to the government,” Pantami said.
The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), mobile network operators (MNOs), among other organisations, will be among the organisations with which the Committee will collaborate closely, he claimed.
In order to jointly protect Nigeria's internet from potential attacks, instances of vandalism, and fibre cuts during the election, Pantami said the committee would collaborate with them.
“The challenges of protecting our cyberspace is a collective national responsibility, it is a national assignment.
“As a sector, we would play our own responsibility objectively and professionally.
"We would work collectively rather than working individually as agencies since we are in the same sector,” he added.
Prof. Adeolu Akande, the chairman of the advisory committee, also thanked the minister for considering him and other candidates for the crucial national job.
He asserted that the committee would effortlessly carry out its duties to guarantee the nation's ICT infrastructure and cyberspace are protected throughout the elections.
“The committee members will do everything in their capacity to deliver on their terms of reference,” he said.
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