The Federal Government is preparing a draft executive bill to strengthen Nigeria’s legal framework for tackling emerging cyber threats.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, said this in a message delivered on his behalf by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, at the second International Cybersecurity Conference in Abuja on Tuesday.
The 2026 conference was held under the theme: “Cyber Resilience in the Age of AI: Defending Minds, Networks and Nations”.
Fagbemi said the Federal Government was committed to overhauling Nigeria’s cybercrime legislation to address emerging threats posed by artificial intelligence, including sophisticated online fraud, digital surveillance and attacks on critical national infrastructure.
“The Federal Ministry of Justice has advanced work on a draft executive bill to strengthen our legal framework,” he said.
Fagbemi said technological advances had transformed cybercrime into a threat to financial systems, national security, personal dignity and public trust.
“Our objective is clear: we support laws that respond to emerging technologies, facilitate the preservation and exchange of electronic evidence, support effective investigation and prosecution, and uphold human rights and the rule of law.
“Security must protect liberty, not become an excuse to undermine it. The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation remains committed to a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach,” he said.
Also speaking, the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Malam Kashifu Inuwa, said cybersecurity focused on preventing attacks, while cyber resilience involved the ability to recover after an attack.
“In the age of AI, it is very difficult to defend against or launch attacks without AI. We need to think about both attacking and defending with AI because it offers sophisticated tools to attackers as well as defenders.
“Organisations need to defend themselves, and it all depends on how we use AI.
“This year’s conference will look beyond defending infrastructure because cybersecurity today is about more than infrastructure.
“We need to consider how to defend our minds because hackers focus more on people than systems. It is easier to hack people to get what you want than to hack the systems themselves,” Inuwa said.
He added that NITDA was working with the Office of the National Security Adviser and the National Assembly to review the Cybercrimes Act and strengthen the cybersecurity policy framework.
Sen. Shuiabu Salisu, Chairman of the Senate Committee on ICT and Cybersecurity, called for greater collaboration among government institutions and stakeholders to address challenges affecting Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.
Salisu proposed a retreat involving relevant ministries, regulatory agencies, security institutions and other stakeholders to identify shared priorities and develop coordinated strategies.
He also advocated developing a national cyber resilience index to assess organisations’ security capabilities and provide a framework for measuring and improving their preparedness against cyber threats.
Dr Vincent Olatunji, National Commissioner of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), emphasised the importance of building trust through data protection and privacy in the age of AI.
In a presentation titled “Trust by Design: Data Protection and Privacy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”, Olatunji said AI-enabled data breaches cost an average of six million dollars—about one million dollars more than the global average.
According to him, one in four malicious data breaches was AI-enabled, representing a 56 per cent year-on-year increase, while 43 per cent of breaches involved unapproved or unsecured AI tools.
“Building trust requires regulators to establish clear rules, developers to integrate privacy and security into AI systems, and organisations to assess risks and demonstrate compliance.
“Citizens also need to understand and exercise their data protection rights, make informed choices and report suspected misuse of personal information,” he said.
He said trust should be embedded in the design and deployment of AI systems rather than treated as an afterthought.
The conference was attended by more than 700 participants representing about 200 organisations, including academia, industry and policymakers.
