{"id":195852,"date":"2026-02-22T12:00:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T11:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/stop-mass-phone-tapping-now-serap-urges-tinubu"},"modified":"2026-02-22T13:10:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T12:10:22","slug":"stop-mass-phone-tapping-now-serap-urges-tinubu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/stop-mass-phone-tapping-now-serap-urges-tinubu","title":{"rendered":"Stop mass phone tapping now \u2013 SERAP urges Tinubu"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has urged President Bola Tinubu to direct Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, to immediately withdraw the Lawful Interception of Communications Regulations, 2019.<\/p>\n

According to SERAP, the regulations are \u201cunconstitutional, unlawful, and entirely inconsistent with Nigeria\u2019s international obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was contained in a letter dated 21 February 2026 and signed by SERAP deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare.<\/p>\n

The organisation emphasized the urgent need for a transparent legislative process to ensure any lawful interception framework complies with constitutional safeguards, judicial oversight, and international human rights standards.<\/p>\n

The call comes in the wake of allegations by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu\u2019s phone conversation was intercepted.<\/p>\n

El-Rufai reportedly stated, \u201cThe NSA\u2019s call was tapped. They do that to our calls too, and we heard him saying they should arrest me.\u201d<\/p>\n

SERAP described the regulations as establishing \u201ca sweeping mass surveillance regime that violates Nigerians\u2019 constitutionally and internationally guaranteed human rights including to privacy and freedom of expression.\u201d<\/p>\n

The organisation warned that the rules grant \u201coverly broad and vague powers to intercept communications on grounds such as \u2018national security,\u2019 \u2018economic wellbeing,\u2019 and \u2018public emergency,\u2019 without adequate judicial safeguards, independent oversight, transparency, or effective remedies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter also highlighted concerns over the upcoming 2027 general elections, stating, \u201cBroad and weakly safeguarded interception powers create a real risk of abuse during politically sensitive periods.\u201d<\/p>\n

It added, \u201cSurveillance measures that lack strict necessity, proportionality and independent judicial oversight can easily be weaponised against political opponents, journalists, civil society actors and election observers.\u201d<\/p>\n

SERAP stressed the importance of privacy in democratic processes: \u201cFree and fair elections depend on confidential communications, protected journalistic sources and open democratic debate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAny misuse of intercepted data for intimidation, political advantage or disinformation would fundamentally undermine Nigerians\u2019 right to political participation and electoral integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The organisation called for narrow, clearly defined interception powers, backed by independent judicial authorization and effective remedies, warning that the current regulations \u201cfail all three tests\u201d of legality, necessity, and proportionality.<\/p>\n

Highlighting specific provisions, SERAP raised alarm over Regulation 4, which gives \u201cbroad discretionary interception power with minimal clarity regarding the scope or limits of such discretion,\u201d and Regulation 23, which allows the Nigerian Communications Commission to designate additional authorities with interception powers, creating \u201cambiguity and undermines legal certainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group also criticized provisions that allow interception without a warrant in broad circumstances, the lack of notification to affected individuals, and mandatory disclosure of encryption keys, which it said \u201cweakens cybersecurity for everyone and fails to provide safeguards for journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders.\u201d<\/p>\n

SERAP concluded, \u201cWhile SERAP acknowledges the government\u2019s responsibility to address national security and organised crime, such objectives must be pursued within constitutional and international human rights limits. The Regulations are neither necessary in a democratic society nor proportionate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The organization further demanded a response within seven days, warning that failure to act would compel it to pursue \u201call appropriate legal actions to ensure the government complies with our request in the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has urged President Bola Tinubu to direct Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, to immediately withdraw the Lawful Interception of Communications Regulations, 2019. According to SERAP, the regulations are \u201cunconstitutional, unlawful, and entirely inconsistent with Nigeria\u2019s international obligations.\u201d This was contained in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":195851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,29,14],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-195852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"\nStop mass phone tapping now \u2013 SERAP urges Tinubu - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has urged President Bola Tinubu to direct Bosun Tijani, Min ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/stop-mass-phone-tapping-now-serap-urges-tinubu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stop mass phone tapping now \u2013 SERAP urges Tinubu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has urged President Bola Tinubu to direct Bosun Tijani, Min ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/stop-mass-phone-tapping-now-serap-urges-tinubu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-22T11:00:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-22T12:10:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771762151.791975.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/stop-mass-phone-tapping-now-serap-urges-tinubu#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/stop-mass-phone-tapping-now-serap-urges-tinubu\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Stop mass phone tapping now \u2013 SERAP urges Tinubu\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-22T11:00:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-22T12:10:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/stop-mass-phone-tapping-now-serap-urges-tinubu\"},\"wordCount\":525,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/stop-mass-phone-tapping-now-serap-urges-tinubu#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771762151.791975.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/stop-mass-phone-tapping-now-serap-urges-tinubu#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/stop-mass-phone-tapping-now-serap-urges-tinubu\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/stop-mass-phone-tapping-now-serap-urges-tinubu\",\"name\":\"Stop mass phone tapping now \u2013 SERAP urges Tinubu - 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