The Nigeria Data Protection Commission has announced plans to review the Nigeria Data Protection Act to explicitly address emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and robotics, three years after the law was signed into effect.
- +NDPC to review Data Protection Act to address AI, robotics, big data
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the National Commissioner of NDPC, Dr Vincent Olatunji, disclosed this in Abuja on Friday while commemorating three years since President Bola Tinubu signed the NDPA into law on June 12, 2023.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the National Commissioner of NDPC, Dr Vincent Olatunji, disclosed this in Abuja on Friday while commemorating three years since President Bola Tinubu signed the NDPA into law on June 12, 2023.
He explained that the rapid evolution of digital technology has made some provisions of the Act due for an update.
According to him, when the legislation was originally drafted, the digital landscape was far less advanced, meaning references to emerging technologies in the law were necessarily broad and general rather than specific.
Olatunji said the Act needs to move from vague references to emerging technologies toward specifically naming and addressing the technologies now shaping the digital economy.
Despite advocating for the Act to address AI more directly, Olatunji stressed that human oversight must remain central to how AI systems are deployed.
He also flagged digital footprints and other privacy-related concerns as areas requiring continuous regulatory attention to keep pace with technological change.
Olatunji said Nigeria’s approach of conducting regular reviews of its data protection law sets it apart from several other countries that continue to operate under data protection legislation enacted more than a decade ago.
Olatunji expressed optimism about the trajectory of Nigeria’s data privacy ecosystem over the next five years.
The Nigeria Data Protection Act was signed into law on June 12, 2023, providing the legal framework for the protection of personal data and privacy rights across the country.
Earlier this year, Nairametrics reported that Nigeria’s data protection sector has expanded into a N16.2 billion industry just two years after the introduction of formal regulatory oversight, according to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC).
The disclosure was made by the NDPC’s National Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, during a media workshop and capacity-building session in Lagos.
According to the Commission, the rapid growth underscores increasing compliance with data protection regulations, stronger enforcement efforts, and growing trust in Nigeria’s digital governance framework, despite the agency’s primary mandate not being revenue generation.
