By Ijeoma Olorunfemi
The Nigeria Governor’s Forum (NGF) and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) have urged state governments to implement the Nigeria Data Protection Act (2023) and the Nigeria Data Protection Act-General Application and Implementation Directive (GAID) 2025.
They made the call on Wednesday, at the opening of a two-day implementation workshop on the NDP Act 2023 and GAID 2025 for state governments in Abuja.
The workshop was organised by the NGF in collaboration with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC).
The Director-General of NGF, Dr Abdulateef Shittu, said implementation of the NDP Act was fundamentally an issue of good governance.
Represented by Mr Chijioke Chuku, General Counsel and Head of Energy at the NGF, Shittu said government systems were becoming increasingly digital, with the transformation placing greater demands on the protection of citizens’ privacy, security and trust.
“Our responsibility is to ensure that government institutions evolve with the same seriousness as the technologies they adopt.
“This is where the partnership between the Nigerian Governors’ Forum and the Nigerian Data Protection Commission assumes particular significance.
“Our task is to provide states with a common platform for implementation, strengthen institutional understanding, promote consistency where necessary, and ensure that progress is sustained beyond individual interventions,” he said.
The NGF D-G pledged the forum’s commitment to working with the Federal Government, NDPC and state governments to achieve effective implementation of the data protection law.
Dr Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, said digital governance could not stop at the federal level.
Tijani, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mr Nadungu Gagare, said every state was a direct point of contact for Nigerians and handled sensitive information through civil registries, healthcare records, land management and educational systems.
“To our heads of service, you lead the administrative machinery. Embedding data protection into public service workflows ensures that institutional compliance becomes second nature to every civil servant.
“To our attorney generals, you safeguard the rule of law. Aligning state regulatory frameworks with the NDP Act and GAID 2025 provides the legal clarity necessary to attract private capital and foster innovation.
“To our commissioners for ICT, you drive technical execution because building secure, interoperable systems ensure that user privacy is protected by design across all digital government services,” he said.
According to him, alignment between federal directives and state-level implementation was essential to building a unified and secure digital ecosystem across Nigeria.
The National Commissioner of the NDPC, Dr Vincent Olatunji, said about 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population lived at the sub-national level, making effective implementation of data protection laws by state governments critical to protecting citizens.
Olatunji explained that citizens left digital footprints whenever they interacted with online platforms, whether for banking, travel or other purposes.
Olatunji said the NDP Act 2023 was enacted to protect the rights of citizens and residents regarding their personal data and privacy.
He said the law was also important for improving Nigeria’s global business competitiveness, creating awareness on protecting citizens’ rights and building human capacity among others.
He said effective implementation required more than having a robust law, stressing the need for a clear roadmap covering awareness, human capital, governance, privacy ecosystems, technology, cooperation and collaboration.
“We have to create awareness to ensure that people believe in and understand this law. We have to build human capital, that is, the people that will actually drive the law,” he said.
Olatunji said the NDPC was also working with stakeholders, including state governments, because the states were major partners in the implementation of the law.
Olatunji said the NDPC had also licensed Data Protection Compliance Organisations (DPCOs) to support organisations with compliance services and deepen data protection across jurisdictions.
He added that the commission had recorded many achievements, including having over 27,000 people in the ecosystem, job creation, certifying about 10,000 Data Protection Officers and building an ecosystem worth N1.5 billion.
Olatunji said with the implementation at the state level the law would have more ripple effects on the society.(NAN) http://www.nannews.ng
Edited by Uche Anunne