Nigeria’s Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, headed by Minister Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, has taken a proactive step to safeguard Nigeria’s cyberspace and ICT infrastructure during today’s election.
The Ministry has formed a committee led by Prof. Adeolu Akande, Chairman of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), with the mandate to protect against cyber attacks.
According to Prof. Pantami, President Buhari gave the directive because of the significant role of ICT in the upcoming election. The committee will work tirelessly to monitor the INEC server and other critical ICT infrastructures.
Prof. Pantami has also disclosed that he will be a member of the newly inaugurated committee. The committee will be responsible for receiving complaints about any attacks on critical infrastructure and escalating them to relevant public or private institutions for necessary remedial actions. This move will go a long way in ensuring a free and fair election, and protecting Nigeria’s cyberspace and ICT infrastructure from any form of attack.
While speaking on other responsibilities of the committee, he said;
“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 at 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 centers 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”.
The committee further stated that it will collaborate closely with key institutions, such as the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and mobile network operators (MNOs) to safeguard Nigeria’s cyberspace against potential attacks, vandalism, and fiber cuts during the upcoming election.
They assured that they will utilize their full capacity to ensure the protection of cyberspace during the 2023 general elections.
In 2019, during the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) in Dubai, President Muhammadu Buhari emphasized that cyberspace is being used for election manipulation, subversion of citizens’ democratic rights, and the spread of violence among the populace, Investors King reports.
The president reiterated the need for a collective effort from both public and private sectors to tackle these cyber threats to safeguard Nigeria’s cyberspace.
