The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has reiterated its commitment to enhancing data privacy across public and private entities in the country. In compliance with the Fostering Data Protection Privacy in Nigeria framework, the commission aims to enforce stricter data protection measures to safeguard sensitive information and promote regulatory compliance nationwide.
Dr Vincent Olatunji, the Commission’s National Commissioner and CEO, made this statement at the 2025 Global Privacy Day event in Abuja, the country’s capital, themed “Fostering Trust and Inclusion Through Data Privacy.”
Global Privacy Day 2025!
THEME: Fostering Trust & Inclusion Through Data Privacy
– Launch of Annual Report
– Launch of International Journal
– Panel Discussion
Date: Tuesday, 28th Jan 2025
Venue: Walsh Blanc, Tropic Galleria by the Palms Hotel, Abuja
Time: 11:00am pic.twitter.com/6mZJLZan52— NDPC Nigeria (@ndpcngr) January 27, 2025
Dr Olatunji disclosed that the Commission had achieved great success in 2024 and is dedicated to accomplishing more in the areas of staff training, raising awareness of data policy rights, enhancing capacity building with development partners, and protecting data privacy.
The commission also unveiled its annual report and International Journal during the event.
It ended with a panel discussion in which data specialists offered their insights on how Nigerian data will be safeguarded.
At the press conference marking the opening of National Privacy Week, which aligns with the Global Privacy Day 2025, the National Commissioner/CEO of the NDPC, Dr Vincent Olatunji, delivered a welcome address and ecosystem briefing. The event also featured the unveiling of the pic.twitter.com/nd33ITRXEz
— NDPC Nigeria (@ndpcngr) January 28, 2025
“The Nigeria Data Protection Commission, as a government organisation, has recorded remarkable achievements, and our target is to double it by this year 2025.
“We received fourteen different awards of excellence from different organisations and seventy-one stakeholder engagements. Additionally, we signed Eight memorandums of understanding with different countries and conducted seven different training for our Staff, who are now Data Protection Officers DPOs.
“Our achievements aren’t only limited to these areas; the commission also trained 55,529 people across the country in different programs and 10,396 awareness campaigns on Data Protection in different media outlets ranging from Radio, Television, and Print, among others, to ensure that Nigerians are educated on Data Protection rights.”
Presently, the NDPC is training 500 Nigerians selected between the Federal Capital Territory FCT and Lagos State Southwest Nigeria as Data Protection Officers DPOs to enhance data protection privacy and to become Self-employed in the country.
Read Also: 2025 Data Privacy Day: NDPC Calls for Collaboration on Awareness
While responding to journalists on the reasons behind the Commission’s signing foreign Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with foreign Data Protection Authorities (DPAs).
The commissioner said is to enable Nigeria to enforce her data protection laws in those countries, “so that if you are not in Nigeria but happen to break the Nigerian data protection law, NDPC will be able to apply the law.”
Olatunji stated that to enforce their laws against anyone who violates Nigeria’s data regulations, they have formed memorandums of understanding with the DPAs of other nations.
“We have signed MoUs with some Data Protection Authorities (DPAs), like the Office of Data Protection of Canada. We also signed with the Dubai International Financial Center Authority.
“And that is why we need to work with DPAs in other countries for our laws to be enforced in their countries. And also for knowledge exchange. We are also looking at that now.” he added.
He also noted that back home here in the country they are still signing MoUs with regulators to ensure full compliance.
“In addition to that, we are also signing with regulators in Nigeria, for them to properly regulate their sectors, to deepen data privacy for their stakeholders to comply with the provisions of the law.”
Similarly, the Chairman of the Association of Licenced Data Protection Compliance Organisation in Nigeria (ALDPCON), Ivan Anya, while responding to Dr Olatunji, said, “When a law is enacted, we look up to the effect it will have on the economy, and in the areas that we have not done well, we are putting things in place to build on what we have achieved.”
Toulu Akerele, the Data Protection and Privacy Lead at Paystack, commented on Nigeria’s data privacy protection regulation, saying the nation is making progress by comparing its past and present.
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