Data Privacy MoU: NCC, NDPC Strengthen Telecom Enforcement

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) have formalised a partnership to strengthen data privacy enforcement within thecountry’s telecommunications sector. The agencies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Thursday at the NCC headquarters in Abuja, aiming to coordinate regulatory oversight of data controllers and processors in Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.

This collaboration emerges as Nigeria intensifies efforts to enforce its Data Protection Act, enacted in June 2023. The National Commissioner of the NDPC, Vincent Olatunji, emphasised that personal data is a fundamental right, and its protection is critical to citizens’ civil condition and national development. “Once you give out your data, you have handed it over to a third party that you no longer have control over,” he stated, aligning with this year’s global privacy theme, ‘Own Your Data’.

Olatunji highlighted the necessity of partnering with sector-specific regulators, particularly in telecoms, where vast volumes of personal data are generated. With nearly 200 million active telephone lines and over 100 million unique subscribers, the industry is a primary data repository. “We are not taking over the mandate of the telecom regulator. We are adding value to what you are doing, and you add value to what we are doing,” he said, describing the MoU as a practical tool for immediate implementation, not a ceremonial document.

The Executive Vice-Chairman of the NCC, Aminu Maida, framed the agreement within the regulator’s evolving role in a data-driven economy. He noted the sector’s progression from connecting people to enabling businesses and citizens in an era of automation and artificial intelligence, where data is foundational. “People need to know that they have a right around that data,” Maida said, warning that unregulated data monetisation threatens individual rights and national sovereignty. “If we do not get the principles of how we govern it right, even our sovereignty as a nation is threatened.”

The partnership will focus on joint compliance monitoring, awareness campaigns, and aligned enforcement actions. It follows the NCC’s ongoing revision of key telecom regulations to address digital risks, as previously reported. Both commissions have committed to operationalising the MoU promptly, marking a significant step in Nigeria’s coordinated approach to data protection as its digital economy expands.