Friday, September 19, 2025 - Paradigm Initiative, Nigeria’s digital rights group, yesterday, raised the alarm over what it described as a massive data breach that had put the personal information of even the country’s top leaders at risk.
The group claims the personal information of President Bola
Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and National Security Adviser
Nuhu Ribadu were being traded cheaply online for as little as N100.
The Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative, Gbenga Sesan,
disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja, stating that sensitive details
such as National Identification Numbers (NINs), home addresses, passport
photos, and mobile numbers were being sold online.
Sesan warned that the government was downplaying the
severity of the crisis.
He said: “The data security problem is serious. Data
belonging to the President, Vice President, National Security Adviser, top
military officials, ministers and other senior government officials are also
available online to anyone who knows their full name and date of birth.”
He further noted that despite Nigeria’s advancements in
technology, digital rights such as privacy, online protection, freedom of
expression, and access to information remained under threat.
According to him, arbitrary internet disruptions, weak
enforcement of data protection, surveillance, and inconsistent digital policies
continue to weaken citizens’ trust and hinder the country’s digital growth.
He expressed gratitude to the Embassy of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands in Nigeria, Ford Foundation, Luminate, Wellspring Philanthropic
Fund, Mott Foundation, Open Society Foundations (OSF), International
Development Research Centre (IDRC), and the Internet Society Foundation for
supporting the organisation’s work at a time when many non-profits faced
challenges.
Sesan added, “All the way to the top, including the
presidency, people’s NIN slips are being sold. This is a major risk, not only
because this information should be private, but because it can be used to
impersonate, get SIM cards, or even take loans. They are pretending nothing is
wrong so that nobody will punish them, but it’s already too late. ‘Citizens’
data is not safe.”
He noted that it had taken the matter to court and urged the
Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) to clamp down on agencies leaking
sensitive information. And called on citizens and the media to mount pressure
on authorities to act
In his remarks, the Chief Operating Officer of Paradigm
Initiative, Nnenna Paul-Ugochukwu, highlighted the organisation’s broader
contributions across Africa.
She noted that PIN had produced reports, digital toolkits,
award-winning short films, and scholarship programmes that have transformed the
lives of young Africans.
Nigeria targets early 2026 for digital public infrastructure rollout.
Meanwhile, Nigeria is targeting early 2026 for the rollout
of its Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) framework, with stakeholders
projecting the first phase of implementation to begin by the first quarter of
the year.
The plan was unveiled yesterday in Abuja at a two-day
technical workshop of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Engagement on the
Public Review of the Draft DPI Life Events Framework and the Draft Technical
Standard for Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX), organised by the National
Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)
For NITDA, the review of the draft documents marks a
critical step towards building a trusted and functional ecosystem where
government, businesses, and citizens can interact seamlessly in the digital
space.
Officials say the framework will serve as the backbone of
Nigeria’s e-Government system, enabling effective delivery of services and
creating an enabling environment for innovation in the private sector.
Director of e-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA,
Salisu Kaka, explained that the agency deliberately adopted a co-creation
approach to ensure that the process captures the concerns of all stakeholders
and lays a strong foundation for implementation.
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