Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Pantami announced that a total of 3,834,244 cyber‑attacks—originating both within and outside Nigeria—were blocked during the recent governorship and state assembly elections. The blockage was made possible by a cyberspace infrastructure established by the government to monitor online activity before, during, and after the elections. A standing committee created by the Federal Government, tasked with securing the nation’s cyberspace, consolidated its efforts, building on the experience gained during the presidential election to keep Nigeria’s digital environment safe and secure.
In a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Technical Matters, Dr Femi Adeluyi, Pantami praised President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) for his support and approval of initiatives that promote the digital economy and cybersecurity. The statement noted that a variety of hacking attempts were recorded, including Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, email and Internet Protocol Spoofing (IPS), SSH login attempts, brute‑force injections, path traversal, detection evasion, and forceful browsing. The daily breakdown of attacks was as follows: Friday 17 March 2023 – 1,046,896; Saturday 18 March 2023 – 1,481,847; Sunday 19 March 2023 – 327,718; Monday 20 March 2023 – 977,783.
Pantami observed that cyber‑threat activity during the governorship and state assembly elections was considerably lower than during the presidential and national assembly elections. He credited the Ministerial Standing Committee on Advisory Role for the Protection of Nigerian Cyberspace and ICT Infrastructure for this achievement and affirmed Nigeria’s continued appreciation for the surveillance work of the three cybersecurity centres of the National Information Technology Development Agency, the Nigerian Communications Commission, and Galaxy Backbone Limited.
Explaining the disparity in attack volumes, Pantami noted that, as Africa’s largest democracy, Nigeria’s presidential and national assembly elections naturally attract greater attention from cyber‑threat actors than the governorship and state assembly polls.
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