CSOs Query NIMC, NCC for Granting Security Agents Access to Database

Emma Okonji

Two civil society organisations (CSOs), the Paradigm Initiative (PIN) and Ikigai Innovation Initiative (Ikigai Nation), have sent a Freedom of Information (FoI) request to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC).

In the FoI request, the CSOs queried the NCC and the NIMC over the approval granted to security agents in Nigeria to have unfettered access to information of Nigerians, stored in a national database that is being managed by the NIMC.

The letter was dated February 11, 2022.

The NCC and NIMC have statutory mandates to maintain the national identity and sim card database respectively.

Although both organisations acknowledged receipt of the request on February 15, 2022, they however disclosed that they were yet to respond to the questions asked

PIN and Ikigai nation are demanding answers from the two government agencies on the basis of the statement credited to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami, that it was in line with the President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval granting some law enforcement agencies access to databases domiciled with the NIMC and NCC.

While speaking on the development, Program Manager at Ikigai Nation, Oyindamola Banjoko, said: “It is my organisation’s considered opinion that a presidential approval for unfettered access to these data is not founded under existing law. Although the government advances the argument of combating insecurity as a legitimate aim, the existing legal framework for surveillance in Nigeria lacks sufficient safeguards.”

On the other hand, the Senior Program Manager at Paradigm Initiative, Adeboye Adegoke, said: “The authorisation of the access granted to security agencies is questionable because it violates the provisions of various human rights laws, by giving law enforcement agencies excessive discretion and failing to provide checks and balances to prevent governmental excesses.”

According to Adegoke, the organisations demanded to know what legal provisions were relied on to give such access to security agencies, and what human rights safeguards exist to monitor the access to databases by law enforcement agents.”

They are also asking about the independent oversight mechanisms that exist to check accountability and transparency of the activities of law enforcement agents, as well as the legal and institutional safeguards in place to ensure accountability on the part of the security agencies who have been given access.

According to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2011, a public institution is obliged to respond to such a request within seven days of receiving it. On next steps for the organisations, Banjoko hinted that the organisation may be compelled to explore judicial options to compel the two agencies to provide the information they sought.