President Bola Tinubu has approved the allocation of a property recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) for use as its new headquarters.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, disclosed this during the commissioning of the facility in Abuja.
Tijani explained that the decision was prompted by the NDPC’s expanding responsibilities and the need to provide the commission with a permanent facility suitable for its growing role in Nigeria’s digital economy.
According to the minister, the property was recovered through the EFCC’s activities before being converted into a government facility for the NDPC.
He described the development as an example of how recovered assets could be redirected towards productive public use.
Tijani also recalled the financial difficulties faced by the commission during its early years, noting that it initially struggled to meet some of its financial obligations, including the payment of salaries.
He said the President subsequently provided direct financial support to the agency while it worked towards developing sufficient revenue to sustain its operations.
The minister further noted that Tinubu signed the Nigeria Data Protection Act in 2023, giving the NDPC a stronger statutory basis to regulate data protection and safeguard the privacy rights of Nigerians.
He added that the President later directed government ministries, departments and agencies to comply with the country’s data protection requirements.
Tijani stressed that data protection would become increasingly important as more public services move online and businesses make greater use of personal information.
He also highlighted the growing application of artificial intelligence, saying the development has further increased the importance of privacy, effective data governance and responsible use of technology.
Speaking at the commissioning, NDPC National Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Vincent Olatunji, disclosed that the commission obtained approval for the property from the EFCC in July 2025, while renovation commenced in March 2026.
Olatunji said the new headquarters represented significant progress for the commission, which began operations in February 2022 with approximately 12 employees and without dedicated funding.
He recalled that he initially had to use personal resources to support the commission’s activities before the agency received ₦50 million from the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in September 2022.
According to him, the NDPC has since licensed 356 Data Protection Compliance Organisations.
He added that the commission and the organisations operating under its licensing framework had contributed to the creation of more than 27,000 jobs over a three-year period.
Olatunji also said the agency generated more than ₦12 billion in revenue during the period, while the broader data privacy and protection industry had expanded to a value exceeding ₦18 billion.
