Nigeria is reviewing its cybersecurity laws to counter mounting threats as artificial intelligence (AI) makes fraud, digital deception and attacks on critical infrastructure harder to detect.
AI was linked to 55% of cybercrime incidents recorded across Africa last year, while deep‑fake cases increased sevenfold between the second and fourth quarters of 2024. Cybercriminals are using AI to automate scams, create convincing fake identities and identify system weaknesses faster than institutions can strengthen their defences.
The government says existing frameworks fail to provide adequate guardrails or align with international best practices, prompting a legislative review and a proposal for a national cybersecurity architecture that would set baseline security standards for organisations nationwide.
The reform effort runs on three tracks: an amendment to the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015 in February 2024; a broader policy review that convened lawmakers, agencies and industry stakeholders in Lagos; and a five‑year review of the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy, first introduced in 2014 and revised in 2021, due in 2026. A separate National Digital Economy and E‑Governance Bill 2025, which underwent a public hearing in November 2025, seeks a comprehensive legal framework for digital services and e‑governance.
Legislative timetable
“the timeline is immediately after the election…”
Adedeji Stanley Olajide, Chairman of the House Committee on ICT & Cybersecurity, told TechCabal on the sidelines of the International Cybersecurity Conference in Abuja in October 2026. He added that between January and June 2027 the “cybercrime, cybersecurity, and digital economy bills” are expected to be enacted.
The proposed laws aim to curb cyberbullying, enforce stricter compliance and security standards across the financial sector, and address the fact that nine in ten Nigerian children face risks of cyberbullying, harassment and online exploitation.
Financial institutions are under pressure. In 2025 Nigeria lost ₦25.85 billion ($19.2 million) to electronic payment fraud. In September 2026 the Central Bank of Nigeria warned banks, fintechs and payment service providers that AI‑driven vulnerabilities pose direct threats to financial stability. The Nigeria Data Protection Commission fined MultiChoice Nigeria ₦766.24 million ($568,630) for data‑protection breaches and launched investigations into 1,369 organisations across banking, insurance, pensions and gaming. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission investigated a ₦3 billion ($2.23 million) fraud scheme targeting First City Monument Bank customers.
Government bodies are not immune. An AI‑generated photo controversy at the Independent National Electoral Commission revealed suspicious voter records entered through authorised terminals. The Corporate Affairs Commission suffered a breach exposing over 15 million corporate documents, and Remita, the central payment gateway for the Treasury Single Account, leaked nearly three terabytes of financial data due to a misconfigured cloud bucket. NDPC National Commissioner Vincent Olatunji reported more than 2,000 cyber‑attack attempts on the commission’s portal in a single week.
Analysts note that attackers now rely on compromised credentials and AI‑enabled behavioural evasion rather than software flaws. West Africa lost over ₦1 billion ($742,104) in fraudulent transactions in the first half of 2026, with ransomware present in 80% of the investigated Nigerian cases.
Building local capacity is a stated priority. The National Digital Cloud Policy offers tax and duty waivers to attract private investment while mandating that sensitive national data remain hosted within Nigerian borders. Over ₦4.5 trillion ($3.34 billion) was allocated to the IT sector between June 2023 and June 2026, with targets of $250 million in private investment within 12 months and $750 million within 24 months. As Abdul‑Hakeem B.D. Ajijola, chair of the African Union Cyber Security Expert Group, warned, lasting security depends on skilled local engineers rather than temporary vendor contracts.
All three legislative tracks remain under review; enforcement and capacity‑building measures will determine whether Nigeria’s digital economy becomes more secure.
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