AI, law, and Nigeria's new civic arena: a call for modern statutes
Abimbola Amusan, co-founder of the US-based fintech and migration infrastructure firm Vesti, has called for urgent legislative reforms to govern artificial intelligence and the broader digital space. His message is simple: today's tools are moving faster than Nigeria's statutes, and that gap invites risk-legal, economic, and civic.
Speaking at a legislative summit themed "Digital Democracy: Youth, Technology, and Modern Legislation" across Ayedaade, Irewole, and Isokan in Osun State, he warned that existing frameworks are out of step with how citizens live, work, and participate. Vesti itself has leaned into these shifts, launching an AI assistant for migrants and issuing over N1 billion in travel loans.
Where current laws fall short
Amusan urged lawmakers to update rules across seven pressure points: data privacy, cybersecurity, digital identity, AI ethics and governance, online civic rights, digital inclusion, and technology-enabled economic participation. Each area now touches core public interests-from elections to service delivery to financial access.
The takeaway for legal teams: the baseline is no longer compliance with siloed statutes. It's an integrated digital policy stack that anticipates cross-border data flows, automated decision-making, and platform-driven public opinion.
A legislative to-do list for immediate action
- Define AI systems and risk tiers: Create clear, technology-neutral definitions and a risk-based framework for high-impact use cases (e.g., public sector automation, credit scoring, hiring, critical infrastructure).
- Mandate AI impact assessments: Require pre-deployment assessments covering data quality, bias, explainability, safety, and human oversight-especially for government and essential services.
- Public-sector AI rules: Set procurement standards, auditability requirements, model documentation, and record-keeping. Require human-in-the-loop for decisions affecting legal rights or entitlements.
- Data governance and privacy: Align with the Nigeria Data Protection Act; specify lawful bases for AI training, retention limits, de-identification standards, and cross-border transfer controls.
- Algorithmic transparency: Require clear notices for automated decisions, accessible explanations, and appeal routes. Label synthetic content and bots that interact with citizens.
- Cybersecurity obligations: Baseline security controls for models and data pipelines; incident reporting timelines; red-teaming for safety and security risks.
- Online civic rights: Disclosure for political ads, basic transparency around recommender systems, and due-process safeguards for content takedowns that affect civic participation.
- Digital inclusion: Guarantee accessible public digital services, language options, and low-bandwidth pathways so rules don't exclude those they're meant to serve.
Institutional architecture that can work
- Coordination hub: Establish a cross-agency taskforce to align the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, NITDA, NCC, CBN (for fintech use cases), and election bodies on standards and enforcement.
- Regulatory sandboxes: Launch supervised pilots for high-impact AI and blockchain systems with predefined metrics, time limits, and public reporting.
- Independent oversight: Create an expert advisory panel (policy, law, security, ethics, youth reps, and industry) to review high-risk deployments and publish opinions.
Enforcement with due process
- Clear obligations and penalties: Tie fines and corrective orders to risk level and harm.
- Appeals and redress: Fast-track routes for citizens and SMEs affected by automated decisions.
- Audit rights and logs: Preserve model and data change logs for independent review, with confidentiality protections.
- Whistleblower protections: Safeguards for disclosures about safety, bias, or misuse.
Digital participation is now democratic infrastructure
Town halls and ballot boxes still matter, but most civic conversations now start on screens. Social media acts as the public square; networks beat hierarchy; and algorithms move sentiment faster than television ever did.
Law should meet citizens where they are: transparency for political content, clear labels for automated accounts, election-integrity rules for platforms, and accessible channels for feedback and participation.
From ideas to pilots
- AI for policy modeling and service automation: Start with low-risk, high-benefit use cases-benefits screening, call-center triage, case routing-paired with human oversight and audit trails.
- Blockchain for elections and spending: Pilot verifiable registries for procurement and grant disbursement before moving to any election-related use. Independent testing and public reporting are non-negotiable.
- Real-time citizen feedback: Use privacy-preserving analytics to surface service gaps, misinformation spikes, and accessibility issues.
- Civic tech platforms: Open APIs, standard data schemas, and clear moderation rules to enable structured public input.
What legal teams can do this quarter
- Statute mapping: Compare current acts and guidelines to a risk-based AI framework; flag conflicts and gaps.
- Template the paperwork: Draft model AI impact assessments, procurement clauses, data-sharing agreements, and algorithmic transparency notices.
- Set guardrails for pilots: Define oversight committees, metrics, red-teaming plans, and exit criteria before deployment.
- Train internal teams: Brief lawmakers, regulators, and counsel on AI risk tiers, testing methods, and audit expectations.
- Align with global norms: Track leading models to speed harmonization and cross-border cooperation.
Reference points worth watching: the Nigeria Data Protection Act and global frameworks like the EU's AI rules. They're not copy-paste solutions, but they offer structure for definitions, risk tiers, and enforcement.
Why this matters now
Amusan's core point is pragmatic: modern challenges demand modern laws. If lawmakers act with the speed of technologists and the prudence of public servants-while bringing in the private sector and young innovators-Nigeria can build statutes that are adaptive, participatory, and pro-growth.
That's not a slogan. It's a blueprint for how legislation keeps pace with a digital economy that won't wait.
If your legal or policy team needs structured upskilling on AI governance and tooling, you can explore current training options here: AI courses by job.
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