The Federal Government has inaugurated a committee to advise it on the protection of the nation’s cyberspace and ICT infrastructure from potential attacks, especially during the general election, scheduled to commence on Saturday.
The committee, inaugurated in Abuja today, is led by the chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Adeolu Akande.
Also in the committee are the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Ali Ibrahim Pantami; Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta and the Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Kashifu Abdullahi.
Others include the CEO of Galaxy Backbone, Professor Mohammad Abubakar and the Special Assistant to the Minister on Digital Economy, Professor Aminu Ahmad, key directors in the agencies and other CEOs in the ministry.
The minister, who represented President Muhammadu Buhari, announced that the constitution of the committee was on the directive of Mr. President to put in place a committee to coordinate computer security centres in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry.
This, the minister said, would be in collaboration with other relevant institutions towards intercepting potential cyber-attacks.
He said, with the increased role of ICT in online activities, and its crucial role in the conduct of the 2023 general election, in line with the Electoral Act (as amended), the job of the committee will assist the nation in conducting free, fair and credible elections.
Pantami directed the committee to work round-the-clock from Friday, 24 February, till the morning of Monday, 27 February, 2023.
He said the committee will also ensure it receives complaints around any attacks to 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 of 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 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 work closely with some critical institutions to collectively safeguard the Nigeria’s cyberspace from potential attacks or cases of vandalism and fibre cuts during the election.
Such institutions, he said, included the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and mobile network operators (MNOs), among others.
“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, Professor Akande, expressed gratitude to the minister for finding him and others worthy to be saddled with the very important national assignment.
He assured the minister of the readiness of the committee to work hard towards delivering on its mandates of ensuring, in advisory capacity, to the Federal Government and other relevant institutions, the protection of the nation’s cyberspace and ICT infrastructure during the elections.
“The committee members will do everything in their capacity to deliver on their terms of reference,” Professor Akande said.
