The Federal Government has commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding an alleged unlawful disclosure of the personal data of a Nigerian citizen by officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service.
In June, it was reported that a Nigerian destroyed five diplomatic cars in front of Nigeria High Commission in London after the collection of his Nigerian passport was delayed, even after the payment of all the required fees.
Reports revealed the man’s identity as Jeffrey Apkovweta Ewohime after his personal data, including the information page of his passport, was published allegedly by the Nigeria Immigration Service officials.
The development contravened provisions of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation 2019, which was developed by the National Information Technology Development Agency.
The law forbids the disclosure of an individual’s personal data without the person’s authorisation.
The incident has led to concerns over NITDA’s ability to enforce the provisions of the data protection law and other regulatory instruments.
Reacting to the concerns on Friday, NITDA Director-General, Dr. Isa Ibrahim, said the agency had commenced investigations into the alleged unauthorised disclosure of the UK-based Nigerian’s data.
Ibrahim spoke while responding to questions from journalists during the signing and public presentation of five regulatory instruments in Abuja.
Asked whether the agency was aware of the incident, Ibrahim said, “We are in the process of investigation and the body that released the data has been contacted.
“But as you know, since we are still investigating, we cannot make all the information available for now.”
The five regulatory instruments presented by NITDA at the programme were Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in Information and Communications Technology as amended; Nigeria e-Government Interoperability Framework; Nigeria ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship Vision; Nigeria Cloud Computing Policy; and Framework and Guidelines for ICT adoption in tertiary institutions.
Earlier in his address at the event, Ibrahim explained that NITDA was targeting a 30 percent increase in the adoption of cloud computing by Federal Government establishments by 2024 through the implementation of the Nigeria Cloud Computing Policy.
“The goal of this policy is to ensure a 30 percent increase in the adoption of cloud computing by 2024 among federal public institutions and SMEs that provide digital-enabled services to the government.
“This policy also targets a 35 percent increase in cloud computing investments by 2024,” he added.
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