Nigeria’s identity law raises questions over who regulates digital signatures

Nigeria’s new identity law could complicate the passage of a long-awaited digital economy bill, with both frameworks covering digital identity and electronic signatures and potentially creating overlapping rules for businesses and government agencies.
Under the NIMC Act 2026 , which replaced the 2007 Act, the Nation al Identity Management Commission (NIMC) is now Nigeria’s Root Certification Authority (Root CA). The designation puts NIMC at the centre of Nigeria’s digital trust infrastructure, with responsibility for issuing root digital certificates, verifying electronic identities and overseeing the trust framework for digital signatures linked to the National Identification Number ...