Senate amends Cybercrime Act, calls for memoranda from ICT stakeholders

The Senate Joint Committee on ICT & Cyber Security and National Security & Intelligence has issued a notice calling for memoranda from stakeholders in the digital communication sectors and the general public as contributions to a Bill to amend the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act 2015.

In a Public Hearing notice signed by Senator Shuiab Afolabi Salisu, Chairman Senate Committee on ICT and Cybercrime, and published on Friday,
November 17, 2023 in several media platforms across the country, the Senate called for memoranda that will be considered in the Upper Chamber’s efforts
to improve the governance of the cyberspace in Nigeria.

The Cybercrime Act 2015 was enacted to ensure the protection of critical national information infrastructure, to promote cyber security, protect
computer systems and networks, electronic communications, data and computer programmes, intellectual property and privacy rights.

The Act also establishes the procedural powers for cybercrime investigation and the collection of evidence in electronic format when probing criminal offences.

In the public notice, the Senate Committee said the hearing would hold in Conference Rom 301 of the Senate Building on Wednesday, November 22, 2023.
The Senate committee called on all stakeholders, among them government institutions, ICT and cybersecurity concerns, national and other security
concerns should submit their memoranda to the Committee.

The statement reads, “Memoranda, which should be submitted within one week in five (5) soft copies and forty-five (45) hard copies, should be addressed to the Clerk Senate Committee on ICT & Cyber Security, Room 3.8 White House Building, National Assembly Complex Abuja.”

The amendment of the Cybercrime (Prohibition and Prevention, Etc) Act 2015 has become imperative in order to review its application over the last eight years since its implementation, to tackle computer-mediated crimes in the country.