A team of lawyers at the Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL) faulted the fine of N10 million for citizens who violate the proposed Digital Economy and E-governance Bill submitted before the National Assembly.
The bill, meant to provide a legal framework for the nation’s digital economy comprising online transactions, cybersecurity, data security and overall digital infrastructure, was facing stiff opposition from the legal bigwigs who published an assessment analysing it on October 15.
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Public service officials and corporate institutions will be mandated to pay N10 million as fine if they were found guilty of any of the cybersecurity breaches and offences outlined in the bill.
OAL lawyers contended that the N10 million fine was not “commensurate” with the degree of breach that may be committed by violators and asked that the section of the bill be reviewed.
The jurists argued that the amount was too unrealistic to recover in that monthly salary earning offenders may not have the wherewithal to pay the fine. They asserted that if the government proceeds with the bill, it will only be enacting a law with fines it will not be able to recover.
“This punishment section seems to have a major red flag which is the fine amount, the fine is not commensurate with any breach that might occur nor does it tally with the salary that persons working in the institution might earn meaning the government would have 90 percent of the time be unable to recover this fine,” OAL lawyers stated in their assessment of the bill.
Instead, the lawyers gave alternative punitive sanctions believed to be realistic such as termination of employment for offenders, demotion to a lower rank and similar sanctions.
The lawyers found another loophole in the bill noting that senior officers guilty of cybersecurity and online transactions breach might walk free and leave the burden of fine on their agencies.
The jurists asserted that offenders may not face the consequences of their actions.
“In the case of a body corporate(sic), the money would be paid from government revenue so this does not in any way affect the public institution,” lawyers at OAL stressed.
“The Act already provides that the Chief Executive Officer is liable then why is the body corporate responsible for the fine? He should be liable and it does not necessarily mean he should pay the 10 million fine, he can be removed,” the lawyers at OAL argued.
“This would serve as a deterrent to others, instead of using the government money to pay fines and the person liable would continue to hold office without consequences,” they stated.