Data Protection Is Constitutional – Pantami

• Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami said protection of citizens’ data in the country is not just secondary legislation but a constitutional requirement.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that Pantami said this on Tuesday while speaking at the forum of Ministers who attended the Future Tech Forum in London.

Spokesman to the Minister, Uwa Suleiman disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen on Wednesday.

The statement said Pantami, who spoke at the forum titled, ‘The Future Of Trust In Data A A Force For Good,’ disclosed that the Nigeria Data Protection regulation 2019 is in full effect to build trust between the government and the governed, with non-compliance attracting stiff penalties.

The Minister was quoted as saying, “Nigeria already has some policies in place to ensure the protection of citizens’ data and to also build trust between government and citizens. There is also subsidiary legislation called the guidelines for processing personal data which gives impetus to the NDPR and assurance of confidentiality to citizens. Thirdly, government also invested in creating awareness among the citizenry to enable understanding of both the regulation and government’s willingness to adhere to the dictates of law regarding confidentiality.”

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He further said prior to the NDPR of 2019, the Cybercrimes Act of 2015, provides for “lawful intercept which is only effected when a security institution establishes a Prima Facie case of a crime, otherwise, the confidentiality of citizens communications and correspondences are guaranteed. The Federal Government of Nigeria has further engaged the services of Data Protection Compliance officers (DPCOs) to further create awareness and serve as middlemen between the government and aggrieved citizens in addressing breaches where they may occur.”

The Minister also noted that data collection played a significant role in aiding government’s proactiveness in curtailing and managing the COVID 19 challenge in Nigeria.

In attendance were the sector ministers from the United States of America (USA), China, Korea, Kenya, Japan, Sweden, Senegal, the European Union, Canada, Singapore amongst others.

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