The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has called on President Bola Tinubu to instruct Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, to withdraw the Lawful Interception of Communications Regulations, 2019, immediately.
According to SERAP, the regulations are “unconstitutional, unlawful, and entirely inconsistent with Nigeria’s international obligations.”
This was contained in a letter dated 21 February 2026 and signed by SERAP deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare.
The group stressed the need for a transparent legislative process to ensure that any lawful interception framework is consistent with constitutional guarantees, judicial oversight, and international human rights standards.
This comes against the backdrop of allegations by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, had his phone call intercepted.
El-Rufai allegedly said, “The NSA’s call was tapped. They do that to our calls too, and we heard him saying they should arrest me.”
SERAP said the regulations have created “a sweeping mass surveillance regime that violates Nigerians’ constitutionally and internationally guaranteed human rights, including the rights to privacy and freedom of expression.”
The group said the regulations confer “overly broad and vague powers to intercept communications on the pretext of ‘national security,’ ‘economic wellbeing,’ and ‘public emergency,’ without sufficient judicial safeguards, independent oversight, transparency, or effective remedies.”
The letter also mentioned the forthcoming 2027 general elections, saying, “Broad and weakly safeguarded interception powers create a real risk of abuse during politically sensitive periods.”
It further stated, “Surveillance practices that fail to demonstrate strict necessity, proportionality, and independent judicial oversight can readily be used to target political opponents, journalists, civil society, and election observers.”
SERAP emphasized the role of privacy in democratic elections when it said, “Free and fair elections require confidential communications, safeguarded journalistic sources, and an open democratic debate.”
“Any abuse of intercepted communications for intimidation, political gain, or disinformation would seriously erode Nigerians’ right to political participation and electoral integrity.”
The organization urged the use of limited and precisely defined interception powers, which should be authorized by independent judicial oversight and effective remedies, as the current rules “fail all three tests of legality, necessity, and proportionality.”
Citing specific points in the regulation, SERAP expressed concern over Regulation 4, which provides “broad discretionary interception power with minimal clarity on the scope or limits of such discretion,” and Regulation 23, which provides the Nigerian Communications Commission with the ability to add more authorities who have interception powers, creating “ambiguity and lack of legal certainty.”
The organization also took issue with the lack of a warrant for interception in broad circumstances, the lack of notification to the intercepted individual, and the mandatory disclosure of encryption keys, which “weaken cybersecurity for all and fail to provide adequate protections for journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders.”
SERAP concluded, “While SERAP recognizes the government’s obligation to address national security and organized crime, these goals must be achieved within the constitutional and international human rights framework. The Regulations are neither necessary in a democratic society nor proportionate.”
The organization also required a response within seven days, stating that if action was not taken, it would be forced to take “all appropriate legal actions to ensure the government complies with our request in the public interest.”