The Federal Government has intensified work on an e-governance and digital economy bill aimed at strengthening regulatory frameworks for emerging technologies and boosting public sector innovation.
Speaking at the Global Partnership for Human-Centric ICT Standardisation (GIST) Nigeria Introductory Stakeholder Workshop in Abuja, the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, who represented the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, said Nigeria has moved beyond strategy design to implementing its national Artificial Intelligence (AI) roadmap.
He explained that the current phase focuses on developing clear guidelines and regulatory structures to ensure AI deployment aligns with ethical standards, accountability, and strong safeguards.
Inuwa emphasised the importance of adopting a “cloud-first” policy, warning that continued reliance on on-premise systems could slow large-scale digital transformation.
He added that cloud integration would be handled cautiously to safeguard Nigeria’s digital sovereignty and protect critical national data.
The NITDA boss also stressed the need for stronger collaboration among government, industry, and stakeholders to build resilient digital infrastructure.
He expressed confidence that the proposed legislation and related initiatives would strengthen Nigeria’s digital governance while promoting innovation, transparency, and inclusive growth.
Earlier, the European Commission’s Team Leader for Digital Governance, Peter Marien (DG INTPA), underscored the importance of international cooperation in shaping global digital standards, noting that the GIST platform supports alignment of technical standards and knowledge exchange while reinforcing Nigeria’s role in advancing a unified digital market in Africa.
