13 key takeaways from Dr. Vincent Olatunji’s press conference on data protection in Nigeria

The National Commissioner, Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Dr. Vincent Olatunji yesterday in a virtual press conference engaged Journalists covering the Information and Communications Technology sector in Nigeria about the Commission and what it has done in the last few years.

The conference was interactive and had in attendance over 20 Journalists.

Here are the key takeaways

1. Data protection compliance in the public sector is hovering around 49 percent.
2. The commission has created 200 jobs and experts working in the public and private sectors.
3. Over 160 Data Protection Compliance Organisations (DPCO)s are licensed and rendering almost 17 services in Nigeria.
4. The signing of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023 has improved Nigeria’s global data privacy ranking and attracted investors.
5. The commission disagrees with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the policy to leverage social media for account owners. The Commission has written CBN in this regard and will engage the apex bank on why such a policy is not proper.
6. NDPC will fine organizations based on the impact of the data protection breaches.
7. The NDPC is independent based on the law that set it up and will be able to sustain itself financially from licencing of DPO, annual returns and fines from data protection breaches.
8. NDPC has sealed a partnership with the National Orientation Agency to have a spread across the country. The partnership will also help in awareness creation.
9. Fidelity Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Leadway Assurance and Babcock University are still under investigation for possible data protection breaches.
10. The data protection law is today seen as a global benchmark as it is based on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
11. NDPC will continue to create awareness so every Nigerian, including data controllers and processors will know their rights and obligations
12. The commission will leverage National Data Protection Adequacy Programme (NaDAP) to execute training programmes for Data Protection Officers (DPOs) to improve the capacity of organisations and individuals within such organisations to respond adequately to the technical and regulatory nuances of a data-protected environment.
13. The NDPC will implement the ACT recently signed by President Bola Tinubu graciously to ensure consistency and clarity with respect to the implementation of data protection standards across all sectors of the Nigerian economy