The Federal Government said it has inaugurated a committee to monitor and advise it on the appropriate measures to protect the nation’s cyberspace and ICT infrastructure from potential attacks, especially during the 2023 general elections.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, inaugurated the Committee led by the Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Adeolu Akande.
The Minister, who represented President Muhammadu Buhari, said that the constitution of the Committee followed the directive of Mr President. The directive was to put in place a committee that will coordinate computer security centres in the ICT industry in collaboration with other relevant institutions towards intercepting potential cyber-attacks.
He said that given the increased role of ICT in online activities and its crucial role in the conduct of the 2023 general elections in line with the Electoral Act, as amended, the job of the Committee will assist the nation in conducting free, fair and credible elections.
Responsibilities of the committee: The Committee, which also has the Minister as a member alongside the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, and the Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr Kashifu Abdullahi, among other CEOs in the ministry, is to work round-the-clock from Friday, February 24, 2023, till the morning of Monday, February 27, 2023.
Pantami said the Committee will ensure it receives complaints around any attacks on critical infrastructure and ensure such complaints are escalated to relevant institutions, public or private, for necessary remedial actions.
- “Our main responsibilities in this Committee are more advisory. Firstly, when it comes to intercepting potential attacks that may come to our cyberspace.
- The Committee will coordinate the NCC’s Computer Security Incident Response Team NCC; the Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team at the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Galaxy Backbone National Cybersecurity Centre.
- “These three centres must work together, complement each other and ensure they intercept any potential attacks on our cyberspace, particularly on our Critical Infrastructure during the election so that we could either take action or provide necessary advice to the government,” Pantami said.
He said the Committee will also work closely with institutions such as the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), mobile network operators (MNOs), among others, to collectively safeguard Nigeria’s cyberspace from potential attacks or cases of vandalism and fibre cuts during the election.
- “The challenges of protecting our cyberspace is a collective national responsibility; it is a national assignment. As a sector, we would play our own responsibility objectively and professionally. We would work collectively rather than working individually as agencies since we are in the same sector,” he added.
Chairman of the Advisory Committee, Prof. Adeolu Akande, expressed gratitude to the Hon. Minister for finding him and others worthy to be saddled with the very important national assignment, and assured the Hon. Minister of the readiness of the Committee to work hard towards delivering on its mandates of ensuring, in an advisory capacity to the Federal Government and other relevant institutions, the protection of the nation’s cyberspace and ICT infrastructure during the elections.
