PeacePro Hails CBN Directive On Domestic Data Storage

The Foundation for Peace Professionals (PeacePro) has welcomed the Central Bank of Nigeria’s directive requiring financial institutions and payment service providers to store and manage payment transaction data generated within the country, describing the policy as an important step towards strengthening the nation’s digital sovereignty and economic security.

The CBN circular, issued on June 15, 2026, sets January 1, 2027, as the deadline for full compliance. The Bank reaffirmed on October 9 that the deadline remains unchanged.

Executive Director of the organization, Mr Abdulrazaq Hamzat in a statement he issued in Ilorin and made available to Team@orientactualmags.com said Nigeria must move beyond being a major consumer of foreign digital services and begin to build the infrastructure, technical expertise and domestic industries needed to control and benefit from its growing digital economy.

‘A country that generates critical financial data but depends on infrastructure outside its borders to store and manage that data must ask serious questions about its digital sovereignty. Nigeria cannot afford to remain merely a market for other countries’ technology while its own digital economy continues to expand’ the statement said.

The organization added that the policy can create opportunities for investment in Nigerian data centres, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, software development and specialised technical services, provided that its implementation is accompanied by deliberate policies to develop local capacity.

He noted, however, that keeping data physically within Nigeria would not, by itself, guarantee digital sovereignty if critical infrastructure, intellectual property, technical expertise and strategic decision making remained excessively dependent on foreign providers.

‘Data localisation must be more than a change of address for servers. It must become part of a national strategy to build Nigerian capacity, develop our technology workforce, strengthen local enterprises and retain more economic value within the country’ the organization said.

PeacePro also urged the Federal Government and relevant regulators to ensure that Nigerian owned technology companies and qualified professionals have a fair opportunity to participate in the emerging market, rather than allowing the transition to become an exclusive commercial opportunity for a small number of established foreign technology providers.

PeacePro acknowledged concerns from commercial banks and payment companies that migrating complex systems within the available timeframe could create operational and cybersecurity risks.

Hamzat said these concerns should be addressed through constructive engagement and clear technical standards, without abandoning the strategic objective of keeping Nigerian payment transaction data under appropriate domestic control.

The statement concluded that Nigeria’s digital sovereignty should be measured not only by where its data is stored, but also by its ability to secure that data, understand the systems managing it, develop domestic alternatives and ensure that Nigerians share meaningfully in the economic value created.

‘Nigeria must own its digital future not necessarily by excluding foreign technology, but by ensuring that foreign participation strengthens rather than replaces our domestic capacity’ the statement added-Team@orientactualmags.com  Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08035023079,  08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com.  Thank you