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  • Tech - News
  • Updated: September 26, 2022

NASS To Enact Data Protection Bill Within 30 Days

NASS To Enact Data Protection Bill Within 30 Days

After receiving the Data Protection Bill from the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the National Assembly has promised that it would be enacted into law within 30 days.

At a one-day sensitisation session on data protection held for members of the National Assembly on Monday in Abuja, Yakubu Oseni, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Cybercrime, made the commitment.

Oseni contends that legislation has to be passed to regulate the activities of the Nigerian Data Protection Bureau (NDPB), which the Federal Government established in order to secure personal data.

“I want to assure you that as National Assembly members, we will make sure that we do justice to the bill.

"We need to give legal backing to the agency.

“We are waiting for them to bring the bill and we will ensure it gets to the president within one month,” he said.

According to the  Senator,  this is 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.

“Now that it is coming from the executive side,  I believe that it will see the light of the.

“This is an agency set up to protect the data of individuals and organisations,” he said.

He contends that your data is your property, and anyone wishing to use it in any way must first have your permission.

Abubakar Lado, the chairman of the House Committee on ICT and Cybercrime, also assured the agency that the House of Representatives will move swiftly to pass the measure.

"As 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.

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 they can block all the gaps.

“This bill will ensure the privacy and confidentiality of the data of our citizens,” he said.

In response to inquiries, Dr Vincent Olatunji, National Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer of NDPB, stated that the law would be prepared by October.

Olatunji previously claimed that by certifying more than 5,000 data protection professionals, the organisation had produced over 8,000 new jobs.

“By October, we will send the bill to the minister who will forward it to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for it to be sent as an Executive bill to the National Assembly.

“Our belief is that the bill will be passed before the end of this year,” he said.

The Project Coordinator, Nigeria Digital Identification for Development (ID4D), Solomon Odole, said all relevant stakeholders needed to be carried along to avoid hiccups with the bill.

‘We need to carry all relevant stakeholders along, such as National Identity Management Commission(NIMC), Legislations and others.

“We know that if they are not carried along the bill may suffer the same fate as the previous one,” he said.

Olumide Osundolire from Banwo and Ighodalo Law Firm, who gave an overview of the current data protection landscape in Nigeria, highlighted the history and development of privacy and data protection. 

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