FEC  approves data protection bill for transmission to National Assembly

By Business AM

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the Nigeria Data Protection Bill for transmission to the National Assembly.

Isa Pantami,the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, disclosed this to the media following the FEC meeting presided over by Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria’s vice president.

Pantami explained that  passage of the bill into law will ensure the privacy and confidentiality of data being presented to the government and other institutions.

In a statement, Babatunde Bamigboye,head,legal, enforcement & regulations, Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB), noted that the central objective of the Bill is to safeguard the fundamental rights and freedoms, and the interests of data subjects in the country as guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

”The Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its meeting today 25th February, 2022 approved the Nigeria Data Protection Bill. By virtue of this historic approval, the Bill will now be transmitted to the National Assembly as an executive bill through the office of the minister of Justice and attorney general of the federation,” the statement read.

Bamigboye outlined the prominent roles of the  data protection bill to include;

-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;

-Ensuring that personal data is processed in a fair, lawful and accountable manner;

-Protecting data subjects’ rights, and providing means of recourse and remedies, in the event  of the breach of the data subject’s rights;

-Ensuring that data controllers and data processors fulfil their obligations to data subjects;

-Establishing an impartial, independent, and effective regulatory Commission to superintend over data protection and privacy issues, and supervise data controllers and data processors; and

-Strengthen the legal foundations of the national digital economy and guarantee the participation of Nigeria in the regional and global economies through the beneficial trusted use of personal data.

In another development, FEC approved the National Child Online Protection Policy and Strategy.

Commenting on this, Pantami, said the policy is essentially designed to protect children from unsolicited content online.

According to the minister, the move  has become a global requirement, in line with a policy document released by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) on keeping children safe in the digital era.

In his justification of the policy, Pantami said; “According to the report of the International Telecommunication Union, even during COVID-19 more than one billion children were online, most of them for their studies, because schools were shut down. So, they switch only to virtual learning.

“Children will not be able to differentiate what is beneficial or what is harmful. And today without any solicitation, if you go online, you will discover that many things are coming into your device unsolicitedly. And if you are at least matured, you will be able to avoid it but children would not be able to and that will definitely affect their innocence and will even affect them morally and otherwise.”

He  explained that  it is against this backdrop that the council approved the National Child Online Protection Policy and Strategy. He added that towards its implementation, a governance structure using these relevant institutions of government would map out strategies, leveraging on existing laws.

Pantami further noted that the government is working with 37 institutions of government including NOA, NBC, Ministry of Justice, Information and culture, Office of the National Security Adviser among others in a multi sector approach.