The Federal Government is drafting an executive bill to strengthen Nigeria’s legal framework for tackling emerging cyber threats, particularly those involving artificial intelligence (AI).
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, disclosed this in a message delivered on his behalf by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, at the second International Cybersecurity Conference 2026 in Abuja on Tuesday.
The conference was held under the theme, “Cyber Resilience in the Age of AI: Defending Minds, Networks and Nations”.
Fagbemi said the Federal Government was committed to overhauling Nigeria’s cybercrime legislation to address emerging threats linked to AI, including sophisticated online fraud, digital surveillance and attacks on critical national infrastructure.
“The Federal Ministry of Justice has advanced work on a draft executive bill to strengthen our legal framework,” he said.
He said technological advances had transformed cybercrime into a threat to financial systems, national security, personal dignity and public trust.
“Our objective is clear, we support laws that respond to emerging technologies, facilitate the preservation and exchange of electronic evidence, support effective investigation and prosecution, and uphold human rights and the rule of law.
“Security must protect liberty, not become an excuse to undermine it. The office of the Attorney General of the Federation remains committed to a whole-of-government and a whole-of-society approach,” he said.
Also speaking, the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, explained that cybersecurity focused on preventing attacks, while cyber resilience involved the ability to recover after an attack.
“In the age of AI today, it is very difficult defending or attacking with AI itself because you need to think of attacking and defending using AI because AI has many sophisticated tools for the attackers as well as for the people.
“Organisations need to defend themselves as well and it all depends on how we use it.
“This year’s conference is going to look at it beyond just defending infrastructure because today, cybersecurity is beyond infrastructure.
“We need to look at how we can defend our minds because hackers focus more on hacking people than systems and it is easier to hack people to get what you want than hacking the system itself,” Inuwa said.
He added that NITDA was working with the Office of the National Security Adviser and the National Assembly to review the Cybercrimes Act and strengthen the policy framework for cybersecurity.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on ICT and Cybersecurity, Sen. Shuiabu Salisu, called for greater collaboration among government institutions and stakeholders to address challenges affecting Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.
Salisu proposed a retreat involving relevant ministries, regulatory agencies, security institutions and other stakeholders to identify shared priorities and develop coordinated strategies.
He also advocated the development of a national cyber resilience index to assess organisations’ security capabilities and provide a framework for measuring and improving their preparedness against cyber threats.
The National Commissioner of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Dr Vincent Olatunji, emphasised the importance of building trust through data protection and privacy in the age of AI.
In a presentation titled “Trust by Design: Data Protection and Privacy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”, Olatunji said AI-enabled data breaches cost an average of $6 million, about $1 million above the global average.
According to him, one in four malicious data breaches was AI-enabled, representing a 56 per cent year-on-year increase, while 43 per cent of breaches involved unapproved or unsecured AI tools.
“Building trust requires regulators to establish clear rules, developers to integrate privacy and security into AI systems, and organisations to assess risks and demonstrate compliance.
“Citizens also need to understand and exercise their data protection rights, make informed choices and report suspected misuse of personal information,” he said.
Olatunji said trust should be embedded in the design and deployment of AI systems rather than treated as an afterthought.
The conference attracted more than 700 participants representing about 200 organisations, including academics, industry professionals and policymakers.
