Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Federal Government has taken a decisive step to fortify Nigeria’s digital defences, formally inaugurating a Ministerial Advisory Council for Cybersecurity Coordination to combat the escalating wave of cyber threats targeting the nation’s critical infrastructure and expanding digital economy. The announcement was made by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, during a stakeholder engagement session held in Abuja on Wednesday. The move comes in the wake of a series of high-profile cyber incidents that have disrupted government systems and private institutions, including a breach of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) database, attacks on Sterling Bank, and incidents affecting Remita Payment Services Limited. The Federal Government has confirmed that Nigeria currently experiences approximately 4,200 cyber attacks every week, a figure the minister directly linked to the rapid digital transformation of the nation’s economy. “The stronger your digital economy becomes, the more cyber attacks you are going to experience,” Tijani told the gathering. “The question is not whether attacks will happen, but whether Nigeria is prepared to respond with organized, coordinated national resilience.”
The advisory council, envisioned as a non-statutory, multi-stakeholder coordination platform, is designed to bring together a wide spectrum of actors under a unified framework. Its membership will include Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) from across major economic sectors, cybersecurity professional associations, international technology providers, law enforcement agencies, and academic researchers. The council is also expected to draw participation from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Nigerian Computer Society, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Galaxy Backbone Limited, and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC). To drive the initiative, a technical coordination secretariat has been established and domiciled within NITDA, which will operate under the strategic oversight of the minister’s office.
Addressing the forum, Tijani unveiled a four-pillar framework that will anchor the council’s work: continuous accountability, trusted intelligence sharing, national coordination, and strategic risk foresight. He explained that the council would not duplicate existing efforts but would instead align strategies to enhance threat detection and rapid response. The minister noted that Nigeria’s digital economy has grown significantly, with the sector’s contribution to GDP now tracking close to 20 per cent, up from 16 to 18 per cent at the start of the current administration. An estimated 163 million Nigerians now have internet access, while 4G coverage has reached about 84 per cent of the population. The government is also pushing forward with a $2 billion fibre rollout spanning 90,000 kilometres and a directive to deploy 3,700 new telecommunications towers nationwide. These infrastructure upgrades are expected to further boost connectivity but also increase the attack surface for cyber criminals.
The push for a unified cyber defence architecture has been accelerated by a series of recent breaches that exposed the vulnerabilities of Nigeria’s digital infrastructure. On April 9, 2026, the Corporate Affairs Commission confirmed a cybersecurity breach involving unauthorised access to its digital systems, forcing a temporary shutdown of its online portal for maintenance and upgrades. The incident, which involved a dark web hacker known as ‘ByteToBreach’, opened sensitive corporate data and triggered a system-wide review. NITDA immediately issued a directive to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to review and reinforce their security architectures, conduct comprehensive risk assessments, and implement functional incident response frameworks. The Nigeria Data Protection Commission also launched an investigation into the incident, which also affected other entities such as Remita and Sterling Bank.
Speaking at the event, the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, warned that the rise of artificial intelligence is fundamentally altering the threat landscape, making traditional defensive measures increasingly inadequate. “In today’s environment, attacks can be on AI systems or driven by AI. We are seeing zero-click phishing, AI-generated malware, automated ransomware, and sophisticated social engineering attacks,” he said. He noted that AI-powered threats, including deepfake audio and video, are becoming harder to detect and could be exploited to compromise virtual communications and financial systems. Abdullahi also highlighted a critical vulnerability that often goes unaddressed: human error. He stated that over 95 per cent of cyber incidents are caused by human mistakes, making digital literacy and workforce training essential components of any effective national defence strategy.
The National Security Adviser’s office has expressed strong support for the council, viewing it as a critical complement to existing counter-terrorism and cybercrime frameworks. Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser, has previously warned that criminal networks and non-state actors are increasingly exploiting digital channels to fund illicit activities and destabilise national security. The cybersecurity coordination council is expected to work closely with the Office of the NSA to ensure that threat intelligence is shared across the security architecture and that cyber defence protocols align with broader national security goals.
Stakeholder reactions to the announcement have been largely positive, though some experts have called for caution. The President of the Nigeria Computer Society, Professor Sadiq Mohammed, described the council as “a long-overdue institutional response to a rapidly evolving threat.” He urged the government to ensure that the council is adequately funded and not allowed to become another bureaucratic layer. The Executive Director of Galaxy Backbone, Olumbe Akinkugbe, confirmed that his agency would place its existing security operations centre at the disposal of the council, providing a central hub for monitoring digital services across MDAs. He noted that cybersecurity is not limited to technology alone but begins with human factors, and that personnel remain the first line of defence.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has previously estimated that cyberattacks could cost the global economy up to $12.5 trillion annually by 2026, with developing economies like Nigeria disproportionately affected due to weaker institutional defences. Last year alone, Nigeria’s financial sector lost over N17.4 billion to fraud, with cybercrime accounting for the bulk of those losses. The new council is expected to coordinate sector-wide cyber defence protocols, design capacity-building programmes to fill the gaping shortage of cybersecurity professionals, and harmonise regulatory standards across the public and private sectors. As part of the same initiative, the ministry is scheduled to convene a National Cybersecurity Industry Roundtable later this month, which will serve as a platform for technical dialogue and the co-creation of the council’s operational framework.
The council’s creation also comes at a time when the National Assembly is considering amendments to the Cybercrime Act of 2015, with lawmakers seeking to remove ambiguities that have been used to arrest journalists and silence critics of the government. The amendments, which have passed first reading, aim to strengthen protection for freedom of expression while still criminalising clear cases of cyber fraud. As the digital economy continues to grow, the government now faces the dual challenge of ensuring that Nigeria’s cyberspace is secure without becoming a tool for political suppression. The advisory council is expected to provide legal and policy guidance to help navigate this delicate balance. For the millions of Nigerians who now conduct business, bank, and communicate online, the creation of a national cyber defence body may finally offer some assurance that the digital frontier is no longer a lawless territory.
📩 Stone Reporters News | 🌍 stonereportersnews.com
✉️ info@stonereportersnews.com | 📘 Facebook: Stone Reporters News | 🐦 X (Twitter): @StoneReportNew | 📸 Instagram: @stonereportersnews
Add comment
Comments