NIGERIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Tiwalola Osazuwa, Peretimi Akinmodun, Lazarus Uwa Kalu and Mubaraq Popoola, ǼLEX
8. Trust Services and Digital Entities 8.1 Trust Services and Electronic Signatures/Digital Identity Schemes Regulation of Trust Services, Electronic Signatures and Digital Identity Schemes Regulation of trust services Under the NITDA Public Key Infrastructure Regulations, the NITDA introduced a voluntary licensing regime for certification authorities. The licensing of a certification authority by the NITDA is an indication to the public that the certification authority is trustworthy and deserving of con - sumer confidence. These certification authorities issue digital cer - tificates, which are used to authenticate and verify electronic transactions and digital sig - natures. Digital certificates issued by licensed certification authorities provide this assurance, ensuring that the transactions are secure, reli - able and tamper-free. Recognition of electronic signatures With regards to the recognition of electronic sig - natures, the Nigerian Evidence Act recognises the use of electronic signatures as a means of authenticating electronic records. However, the Act stipulates that an unsecured digital signature will only be deemed reliable if it can be proven that the signature is uniquely linked to the sig - natory. Regulation of digital identity in Nigeria The laws that regulate digital identity in Nigeria include: • the National Identity Management Commis - sion (NIMC) Act 2007 (the “NIMC Act”); • the NDPA;
• the Registration of Telephone Subscribers Regulations 2011; • the NCC Consumer General Code of Practice Regulations 2024; • the Mandatory Use of National Identification Number Regulations 2017; and • the CBN Framework for Bank Verification Numbers. The NIMC Act is the primary regulation that pro - vides for digital identity in Nigeria. It established the NIMC. The responsibilities of the NIMC include the creation, management, maintenance and operation of the national identity database. The NIMC Act requires the details of the follow - ing persons to be included in the database: • any person who is a citizen of Nigeria; • any person, whether or not they are a citizen of Nigeria, who is lawfully and permanently resident in Nigeria; and • any non-citizen of Nigeria who is lawfully resi - dent in Nigeria for a period of two years. The NCC Regulations The NCC issued the Registration of Telephone Subscribers Regulations 2011 which provides a regulatory framework for the registration of subscribers to mobile telephone services using subscription medium in Nigeria. Telecommuni - cation companies are required to register each subscriber and ensure that the information of the subscribers is protected and not disclosed to any third party. Banking and Financial Sector-Specific Regulations The CBN’s Know Your Customer (KYC) guide - lines require banks and financial institutions to verify the identity of customers, often using iden - tity information like national identification num - bers or bank verification numbers. This ensures
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