President Bola Tinubu has approved the conversion of a property recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) into the headquarters of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPD).
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, disclosed this on Monday at the commissioning of the facility in Abuja.
Tijani said the property was allocated to the NDPC after the commission raised concerns that its expanding responsibilities and growing international profile were not matched by a befitting permanent office.
According to the minister, Tinubu directed that the recovered property be put to productive use by an agency responsible for protecting Nigerians’ personal data and strengthening confidence in the country’s digital economy.
“The President directed that a property of this size that was recovered from the work of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission be allocated to NDPC,” Tijani said.
He described the development as an example of how recovered assets could be repurposed for public benefit.
“An asset that is recovered on behalf of the Nigerian people has been returned to productive use for the protection of Nigerian people,” the minister said.
“A property once associated with the consequence of corruption is today becoming the headquarters of an institution dedicated to protecting Nigerians and strengthening trust in our digital economy.”
Tijani also recalled the financial challenges faced by the NDPC during its formative years, saying the commission struggled to meet some of its obligations, including salary payments.
He said Tinubu subsequently provided direct financial support to the agency until it became capable of generating enough revenue to sustain its operations.
The minister noted that Tinubu signed the Nigeria Data Protection Act shortly after assuming office in 2023, giving the commission a stronger legal framework to protect Nigerians’ privacy and personal data.
He added that the President later directed ministries, departments and agencies to comply with Nigeria’s data protection laws and regulatory frameworks.
With the rapid expansion of the digital economy, Tijani said stronger data protection had become increasingly important, particularly as artificial intelligence becomes more integrated into government, business and society.
“As our digital economy expands, as more government services become digital, as more Nigerian businesses use data to create value, and particularly as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in our economy and society, questions around privacy, data governance, trust, and the responsible use of technology will continue to become more important,” he said.
Speaking at the event, the National Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the NDPC, Vincent Olatunji, said the commission obtained approval for the property from the EFCC in July 2025, while renovation work began in March 2026.
Olatunji described the new headquarters as a major transformation for an agency that started with limited space and little financial support.
He said the commission commenced operations in February 2022 with about 12 employees and no dedicated funding, forcing him to initially use personal funds to keep the agency running.
The agency later received N50m from the National Information Technology Development Agency in September 2022, which he described as its first major funding support.
According to Olatunji, the commission has since licensed 356 Data Protection Compliance Organisations, with the activities of the agency and the licensed organisations contributing to the creation of more than 27,000 jobs within three years.
He said the NDPC had also generated more than N12bn in revenue during the period, while the wider data privacy and protection ecosystem had grown to a value of over N18bn.
The commissioner disclosed that more than 66,000 Nigerians had enrolled in the commission’s virtual privacy academy, while 220 training programmes had reached 99,370 participants.
He added that the NDPC had established 17 data privacy clubs in universities and recruited 6,176 student ambassadors, while its public engagement activities had reached more than 250,000 Nigerians.
Olatunji further said Nigeria’s data protection framework had attracted international interest, with representatives from 17 countries visiting the country in the past two years to learn from the commission.
He said the NDPC had also signed 28 memoranda of understanding with organisations and data protection authorities in countries including Canada, Morocco, Liberia, Kenya and Ghana.