Some Nigerians have expressed concern over the reported appointment of the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Abisoye Coker-Odusote, and the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, to the All Progressives Congress (APC) 2027 Presidential Campaign Council.
The concerns, expressed mainly on the social media platform X, followed a list of campaign council appointments announced by the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to the reported appointments, Coker-Odusote is to serve as Director of Data Management, while Inuwa is to serve as her deputy in the same directorate.
Some social media users and technology commentators argued that the appointments raised questions about institutional neutrality, public trust and the separation between public responsibilities and partisan political activities.
The concerns expressed online were largely centred on the roles of NIMC and NITDA in Nigeria’s digital and technology ecosystem.
NIMC is responsible for Nigeria’s national identity management system, including the administration of the National Identification Number (NIN) and related identity infrastructure.
NITDA, on the other hand, is the Federal Government agency responsible for developing and regulating aspects of Nigeria’s information technology ecosystem.
Some users on X expressed concern that the appointment of the heads of the two agencies to a political campaign structure could create a perception of conflict of interest.
One user, identified as @Galadima_Samaru, alleged that the development blurred the line between governance and partisan politics.
Another user, @skood009, argued that chief executives of public institutions should maintain administrative and institutional neutrality.
Several other users expressed fears about possible misuse of government data and technology infrastructure.
However, the claims suggesting that NIMC’s citizen database or other government-held data had been made available to the APC campaign organisation were allegations and fears expressed by social media users and were not supported by evidence presented in the reactions reviewed.
There was also no evidence in the material provided that citizen data held by NIMC had been transferred, shared or otherwise made available to the APC or any political campaign organisation.
Some of the concerns also referred to potential implications under the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA), particularly regarding the lawful processing, protection and use of personal data.
Data protection experts have consistently maintained that personal data collected for specific purposes should be processed in line with applicable legal requirements and should not be used for unrelated purposes without a lawful basis.
Civil society advocates and some online commentators have called for clarification on how the reported appointments would operate alongside the statutory responsibilities of the agencies.
They said clear safeguards and assurances could help address public concerns over institutional integrity, political neutrality and the protection of citizens’ personal information.
The appointments have therefore renewed public debate about the participation of serving heads of government institutions in partisan political activities, particularly where such institutions oversee sensitive public infrastructure or data.
The concerns and allegations circulating on social media remain largely expressions of public opinion and have not, based on the information available for this report, been established as evidence of any misuse of NIMC or NITDA data, systems or resources.
