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 on Monday during the commissioning of the facility in Abuja.
According to Tijani, the property was allocated to the NDPC after the commission sought a permanent office that would better reflect its expanding responsibilities and growing international profile.
He said President Tinubu directed that the recovered property be converted into a permanent facility for the data protection agency.
The minister described the development as an example of putting recovered assets to productive use, noting that the property, which was recovered through the activities of the EFCC, had now become a facility dedicated to protecting Nigerians’ personal data.
Tijani also highlighted the growing importance of data protection as Nigeria’s digital economy expands. He said issues surrounding privacy, data governance, public trust and responsible technology use would become increasingly significant, particularly with the growing adoption of artificial intelligence.
The minister recalled that President Tinubu signed the Nigeria Data Protection Act shortly after assuming office in 2023, giving the commission a stronger legal framework to protect the privacy and personal information of Nigerians.
Speaking at the commissioning, NDPC National Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Vincent Olatunji, said the commission received approval for the property from the EFCC in July 2025, while renovation work began in March 2026.
Olatunji said the new headquarters represented a significant development for the commission, which began operations with limited office space and funding.
He disclosed that the NDPC has since licensed 356 Data Protection Compliance Organisations and that the activities of the commission and the licensed organisations had contributed to the creation of more than 27,000 jobs over three years.
According to him, the commission has also generated more than ₦12 billion in revenue within three years, while Nigeria’s data privacy and protection ecosystem has grown to a value exceeding ₦18 billion.
Olatunji further disclosed that more than 66,000 Nigerians had enrolled in the commission’s virtual privacy academy, while 220 training programmes had reached nearly 100,000 participants.
The new headquarters, located in the Mbora District of Abuja, has about 56 office spaces and is expected to provide the commission with greater capacity to carry out its regulatory and data protection responsibilities.
The development comes as Nigeria continues to expand its digital economy and strengthen its regulatory framework for personal data protection.
