Technology
NDPC Seeks Dismissal of Meta’s Suit Against $32.8m Fine
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has asked a Federal High Court (FHC) in Abuja to dismiss, in its entirety, a suit filed by Meta Platforms Incorporated challenging the fine it imposed on the organisation.
The NDPC had on February 18, 2025, imposed a remedial fee of $32.8 million and eight corrective orders against the social media giant, which operates Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram.
The American multinational technology company was alleged to have violated the fundamental privacy rights of its Nigerian users with respect to behavioural advertising on Facebook and Instagram.
Dissatisfied with the action, Meta Platforms, in a motion ex-parte dated and filed on February 26, dragged the regulatory agency to court as sole respondent.
In the motion ex-parte marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/355/2025 and moved by Mr Fred Onuofia (SAN) on March 4, Justice James Omotosho granted one of the two orders sought.
The judge had granted leave to Meta to commence proceedings by way of judicial-review seeking, inter alia, an order of certiorari quashing the compliance and enforcement orders dated February 18 issued by NDPC against the company, “and all other investigations, proceedings and actions taken by respondent against the applicant leading to the Final Orders.”
He, however, refused to grant Meta’s relief seeking a stay of the proceedings of all matters relating to the “Final Orders” issued by NDPC against it, pending the hearing and determination of the judicial review proceedings.
Instead, the judge made an order of accelerated hearing of the suit.
The firm, in its originating summons filed by the lead counsel, Mr Gbolahan Elias, wants the court to determine whether NDPC’s investigative process and ensuing compliance and enforcement orders (the Final Orders) issued on February 18 were invalid, null and void.
Meta, in its application dated and filed March 19, hinged the question on the allegation that the commission failed to provide it with adequate notice or an opportunity to be heard on alleged violations of the NDP Act prior to issuing the Final Orders.
Meta argued that such action violated its due process rights, including its right to fair hearing under Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), among other reliefs.
But NDPC, in a preliminary objection to Meta’s suit, told the court that the suit is incompetent and the court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain same.
The regulatory agency, in its application dated April 10 and filed April 11 by its lawyer and the head, Alpha & Rohi Law Firm, Mr Adeola Adedipe (SAN), urged the court to either strike out or dismiss the case.
Mr Adedipe, in two grounds of argument, submitted that the originating summons filed by the company is incompetent for non-compliance with the mandatory provision of Order 34 Rule 6(1) of the FHC (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019.
He also argued that the suit, as presently constituted, is grossly incompetent and academic, the reliefs sought therein, not being capable of activating the jurisdiction of the court.
“The suit is liable to be struck out/dismissed, in limine,” Mr Adedipe argued.
The NDPC, in the affidavit attached to the preliminary objection, stated that by an ex-parte motion, Meta Inc. filed the case.
The commission said that the company had filed the suit, seeking leave to apply for judicial review against the decision of the respondent taken on February 18.
It averred that there was a statement made pursuant to Order 34 of the Rules of the court, supporting the said application, containing the company’s two reliefs.
It said the court granted permission on March 4 for Meta to commence the proceeding, by way of judicial review.
According to the respondent, the originating summons filed by the plaintiff was commenced on 19th March, 2025, 15 days after leave was granted for the judicial review proceedings to be commenced.
NDPC, however, contended that the reliefs contained in the originating summons were completely different from the reliefs contained in the statement filed to support the ex-parte application for judicial review.
The commission also said it would be in the interest of justice for its objection to be sustained.
Also, in a counter affidavit deposed to by NDPC ‘s staff, Mr Osunleye Olatubosun, in opposition to the originating summons filed by Meta on March 19, he said the suit was brought under the judicial review procedure, primarily, to contest the decision of his office against Meta.
Mr Olatubosun averred that in the NDPC‘s decision, Meta was sanctioned after a protracted and thorough process of investigation.
He said the investigative power of the commission was activated by a petition written by an organisation, the Personal Data Protection Awareness Initiative (PDPAI).
The PDPAI had alleged that the company breached the data protection rights of users of Facebook and Instagram.
He averred that in the said petition, the plaintiff was alleged to be engaging in behavioural advertising without obtaining explicit consent of data subjects (users).
He said compelling evidence were provided in support of the petition, revealing Meta’s private policy showing that it conducted behavioural advertising, without obtaining consent from the data subjects.
Mr Olatubosun said during investigation, NDPC drew the company’s attention to some very disturbing violations in this regard, especially as to non-consensual data processing activities.
He said these included the disclosure of sensitive personal data of minors relating to their sex lives; sensitive personal data of minors involving drug use; and sensitive personal data of minor pupils in school, involving erotic dancing.
He said it also revealed sponsored advertisements on gambling, involving the manipulated personal data of a female journalist on TVC; sponsored advertisement on gambling involving the manipulated personal data of a male journalist on Channels TV; and manipulated personal data of public figures, conspiring to commit a felony; explicit video of a woman delivering a child, with her genitals in full display, etc.
He said Meta was, therefore, found in breach of certain provisions of the Nigeria Data Protection (NDP) Act, and that its promotion of debasing images outside the expectation of concerned data subjects offended the principles of fairness, lawfulness, transparency, accountability and duty of care.
Besides, the officer said failure of the company to file a compliance audit with the commission for the year 2022, was a breach of the NDP Act.
He equally said that cross border transfer of data by Meta, contravened mandatory requirements under the NDP Act.
Mr Olatubosun, who said that it was wrong for the plaintiff to process the data of its non-users of it platforms, added that Meta’s privacy policy violates relevant provisions of the NDP Act.
Against these development, the officer said the commission ordered the firm to, henceforth, “seek express consent of data subjects in Nigeria, where their personal data for behavioural advertising will be process.
“Carry out Data Processing Impact Assessment, taking into account the democratic development of Nigeria; update its privacy policy; cease and desist from transferring data out of Nigeria without approval of the commission, in line with the NDP Act.
“Create an appropriate icon link for educative videos, on the dangers of manipulative, unlawful and unfair data processing; put in place sufficient measures for the protection of data privacy on its platforms; and payment of 32, 800, 000 USD.”
Mr Olatubosun said that the case lacks merit, praying the court to dismiss it.
Meanwhile, other reliefs sought by Meta in the main suit, include whether NDPC’s initiation of its investigation, based on a petition submitted by an organisation, rather than on a complaint filed by a “data subject” (as defined under Section 65 of NDPA), invalidates the investigation and the Final Orders.
It also prayed the court for an order of certiorari, quashing the investigation, all proceedings constituted thereby, as well as the ensuing Final Orders issued by the commission against it.
It equally sought an order of injunction restraining NDPC from enforcing or taking steps to enforce any or all of the orders and/or intimidating, harassing or coercing the applicant to pay the purported remedial fee as contained in the Final Orders.
However, Meta, in a motion on notice filed on April 23, sought to amend its statement attached to the ex-parte application, having seen through the notice of preliminary objection which was filed by Mr Adeola Adedipe, SAN, on behalf of the commission.
Mr Onuofia while adopting all their processes, said the motion sought an order granting leave to the company to amend its statement pursuant to Order 34, Rule 3(2)(a) of the FHC rules.
He said it also sought an order deeming the amended statement, which had already been filed and served on NDPC as having been properly filed and served.
Giving grounds why his application should be grated, Mr Onuofia said on March 4, the court heard and granted their motion ex-parte for leave.
He said, thereafter, Meta filed it originating summons on March 19.
The lawyer, however, told the judge that the firm sought to amend the wording of the reliefs and grounds set out in the statement to replicate the wording used in the originating summons.
He said the decision was to ensure efficiency and the full and fair hearing of the issues arising in the originating summons.
According to him, the proposed amended statement highlights the amendments that the applicant seeks permission to make to the statement.
Mr Onuofia said the requested amendment would not cause any injustice to NDPC.
On his part, Mr Adedipe opposed Mr Onuofia’s prayer seeking an amendment, urging the court to dismiss the application.
The senior counsel told the court that a counter affidavit was filed on May 2 in opposition to the motion and argued that the application was presumptuous and misleading.
He submitted that an amendment of a process is not as of right, but entirely at the discretion of the court, where such is practicable and lawful to do so.
Justice Omotosho adjourned the matter until October 3 for consolidated ruling on the preliminary objection and motion to amend.
Managing phone numbers used to be a constant hassle. Between personal lines, work numbers, online registrations, and international travel, people often juggled multiple SIM cards, devices, or expensive roaming plans just to stay reachable. Today, eSIMs and virtual phone numbers offer a smarter way to handle communication. One device can manage multiple lines, switch between them instantly, and keep work and personal contacts separate—all without a physical SIM. For travelers, remote workers, and tech professionals, this setup offers efficiency, control, and flexibility that traditional SIM cards simply cannot match.
A virtual phone number is a digital line that exists independently of any physical SIM. Calls and messages are routed through the cloud, meaning the same number can function across multiple devices: smartphone, tablet, or computer. You can pick a local number in another country without actually being there, or maintain separate lines for freelance projects while keeping your personal number private. Virtual numbers also help protect privacy and streamline online activity. They are perfect for temporary projects, online sign-ups, or situations where you do not want to share your main number.
When paired with eSIM technology, virtual numbers become extremely convenient. Platforms like eSIM Plus let users download multiple numbers onto a single device, switch between them instantly, and manage personal and business lines without touching a physical SIM card. Travelers can maintain local numbers abroad, freelancers can manage multiple client contacts, and tech-savvy users gain complete control over their connectivity. eSIM Plus simplifies this process, allowing for seamless integration of digital numbers and minimizing the complications associated with traditional SIMs.
Businesses also find virtual numbers invaluable. They enable companies to create a local presence in multiple regions without the need for physical offices. Calls can be forwarded to employees anywhere, while integration with CRM tools allows monitoring and analytics of communication. For individuals, virtual numbers enhance privacy and simplify digital life. Whether signing up for online services, running a side business, or protecting personal information, virtual numbers provide flexibility and control that traditional numbers cannot offer.
Everyday Scenarios for Virtual Numbers
Virtual numbers are not just a tech gimmick—they solve real problems.
- International Travel: A traveler can maintain a local number in multiple countries, avoiding expensive roaming fees while staying reachable by family, friends, and colleagues.
- Remote Work and Freelancing: A consultant or freelancer can separate client communications from personal calls without carrying multiple phones. Multiple virtual lines can support different projects simultaneously.
- Privacy Protection: Individuals can use temporary numbers for online registrations, dating apps, or marketplace accounts, significantly reducing spam and unwanted contacts.
- Small Businesses and Startups: Companies can create local contact points in different regions, forward calls to employees, and integrate with communication software for better workflow management.
With eSIMs, managing these numbers becomes effortless. Instead of swapping physical SIM cards, users download the eSIM profile to their device, and virtual numbers become instantly available. This combination provides unparalleled flexibility for modern digital lifestyles.
How Virtual Numbers Work
Getting a virtual number is straightforward. Providers allow you to select a number online, link it to your smartphone or VoIP service, and manage it through an app. Common features include:
- Call forwarding to any device
- Text messaging and multimedia messaging
- Voicemail management
- Temporary numbers for short-term projects or verification purposes
When integrated with eSIM, the activation process is even faster. Download the eSIM profile to your device, and all your virtual numbers are ready to go. This approach is ideal for travelers, remote workers, and anyone managing multiple lines on a single phone without extra hardware.
Leading eSIM Providers
Several providers lead the market in combining eSIM technology with virtual numbers:
- eSIM Plus: Offers digital SIMs integrated with virtual numbers, allowing multiple lines on one device. Users can manage personal, business, and international numbers seamlessly, making it perfect for remote workers, travelers, and freelancers.
- Truphone: Provides global coverage with quick activation. Users can switch numbers without changing SIM cards, ideal for business professionals moving across regions.
- Airalo: Focused on international travelers, offering cost-effective eSIMs for data and voice in over 190 countries. Airalo simplifies connectivity for tourists and remote workers abroad.
- GigSky: Offers pay-as-you-go and subscription eSIM plans suitable for frequent travelers and digital nomads. GigSky supports multiple virtual lines on one device.
- Ubigi: Enterprise-focused, enabling companies to deploy eSIMs and virtual numbers to distributed teams. Employees maintain local numbers across regions without physical SIM swaps.
- Nomad: Travel-oriented eSIM provider supporting multiple virtual lines on one device. Ideal for digital nomads, remote professionals, and long-term travelers.
These services show how eSIMs and virtual numbers have evolved from niche tech to mainstream tools for managing modern communication efficiently.
Advantages Over Traditional Numbers
Virtual numbers have several key advantages over regular SIM-based numbers:
- Multiple lines on one device: Manage work, personal, and international numbers without carrying multiple phones.
- Privacy and control: Easily change or deactivate numbers for temporary projects, online registrations, or spam prevention.
- Global accessibility: Make and receive calls from anywhere without costly roaming charges.
- Integration with software: Works with VoIP apps, cloud platforms, and CRMs. Supports automated call routing, analytics, and communication tracking.
Traditional numbers cannot match this flexibility, efficiency, or convenience. Virtual numbers are built for modern workflows and digitally connected lifestyles.
Combining eSIM and Virtual Numbers
The combination of eSIMs with virtual numbers creates a flexible communication system. One device can handle multiple lines for home, work, or international use. Businesses can provide employees with local numbers in multiple regions without physical offices. Travelers can maintain home and foreign numbers without swapping SIM cards.
Consider a freelance consultant traveling across Europe: a virtual number in France, one in Germany, and a personal line—all on a single device. Clients reach local numbers, costs are minimized, and management happens from one interface. This setup highlights the efficiency eSIMs and virtual numbers provide.
Real-World Examples
- Remote Work Across Time Zones: An employee in Asia receives calls from North American clients using a local virtual number, avoiding international fees. eSIM profiles allow switching lines based on work hours.
- Maintaining Local Presence While Traveling: A business owner visiting multiple countries can maintain virtual local numbers. Clients call local numbers, but calls are forwarded seamlessly.
- Privacy and Online Security: Individuals use temporary virtual numbers for online registrations, reducing spam to their primary number.
These examples show why eSIMs combined with virtual numbers are essential for modern digital workflows.
The Future of Connectivity
With the rise of 5G, cloud communications, and AI-powered tools, eSIMs and virtual numbers will become increasingly integral to daily life. Expect tighter integration with business applications, enhanced security features, and instant switching between personal and professional lines.
For travelers, remote workers, and anyone managing multiple contacts, eSIMs paired with virtual numbers are more than a convenience—they’re a smarter, more efficient way to control communication in today’s digital world.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Lagos State’s representative, Team Nevo, won the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) South-West Regional Hackathon, on Tuesday, December 9, 2025.
The host state took the victory defeating pitches from other south west states, including Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, and Ondo States.
This regional hackathon was a major moment for the 3MTT Programme, bringing together young innovators from across the South-West to showcase practical solutions in AI, software development, cybersecurity, data analysis, and other key areas of Nigeria’s digital future.
Launched by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, the hackathon brought together talented young innovators from across the Southwest region to showcase their digital solutions in areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning, software development, data analysis, and cybersecurity, among others.
“This event not only highlights the potential of youth in South West but also advances the digital economy, fosters innovation, and creates job opportunities for our young people,” said Mr Oluwaseyi Ayodele, the Lagos State Community Manager.
Winning the hackaton was Team Nevo, made up of Miss Lydia Solomon and Mr Teslim Sadiq, whose inclusive AI learning tool which tailors academic learning experiences to skill sets of students got the top nod, with N500,000 in prize money.
Team Oyo represented by Microbiz, an AI business tool solution, came in second place winning N300,000 while Team Ondo’s Fincoach, a tool that guides individuals and businesses in marking smarter financial decisions, came third with N200,000 in prize money.
Others include The Frontiers (Team Osun), Ecocycle (Team Ogun), and Mindbud (Team Ekiti).
Speaking to Business Post, the lead pitcher for Team Nevo, Miss Solomon, noted, “It was a very lovely experience and the opportunity and access that we got was one of a kind,” adding that, “Expect the ‘Nevolution’ as we call it, expect the transformation of the educational sector and how Nevo is going to bring inclusion and a deeper level of understanding and learning to schools all around Nigeria.”
Earlier, during his keynote speech, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Sterling Bank, Mr Abubakar Suleiman, emphasised the need for Nigeria’s budding youth population to tap into the country’s best comparative advantage, drawing parallels with commodities and resources like cocoa, soyabeans, and uranium.
“Tech is our best bet to architect a comparative advantage. The work we are doing with technologies are very vital to levelling the playing field.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
One of the high points of the 2025 re:Invent was the unveiling of Graviton5, the fifth generation of custom Arm-based server processors from Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Many tech enthusiasts believe that the company pushed the limits with Graviton5, its most powerful and efficient CPU, frontier agents that can work autonomously for days, an expansion of the Amazon Nova model family, Trainium3 UltraServers, and AWS AI Factories suitable for implementing AI infrastructure in customers’ existing data centres.
Graviton5—the company’s most powerful and efficient CPU
As cloud workloads grow in complexity, organizations face a persistent challenge to deliver faster performance at lower costs and meet sustainability commitments without trade-offs.
AWS’ new Graviton5-based Amazon EC2 M9g delivers up to 25% higher performance than its previous generation, with 192 cores per chip and 5x larger cache.
For the third year in a row, more than half of new CPU capacity added to AWS is powered by Graviton, with 98 per cent of the top 1,000 EC2 customers—including Adobe, Airbnb, Epic Games, Formula 1, Pinterest, SAP, and Siemens—already benefiting from Graviton’s price performance advantages.
Expansion of Nova family of models and pioneers “open training” with Nova Forge
Amazon is expanding its Nova portfolio with four new models that deliver industry-leading price-performance across reasoning, multimodal processing, conversational AI, code generation, and agentic tasks. Nova Forge pioneers “open training,” giving organizations access to pre-trained model checkpoints and the ability to blend proprietary data with Amazon Nova-curated datasets.
Nova Act achieves breakthrough 90% reliability for browser-based UI automation workflows built by early customers. Companies like Reddit are using Nova Forge to replace multiple specialized models with a single solution, while Hertz accelerated development velocity by 5x with Nova Act.
Addition of 3 frontier agents, a new class of AI agents that work as an extension of your software development team
Frontier agents represent a step-change in what agents can do. They’re autonomous, scalable, and can work for hours or days without intervention. AWS announced three frontier agents—Kiro autonomous agent, AWS Security Agent, and AWS DevOps Agent. Kiro autonomous agent acts as a virtual developer for your team, AWS Security Agent is your own security consultant, and AWS DevOps Agent is your on-call operational team.
Companies, including Commonwealth Bank of Australia, SmugMug, and Wester Governors University have used one or more of these agents to transform the software development lifecycle.
Unveiling Trainium3 UltraServers
As AI models grow in size and complexity, training cutting-edge models requires infrastructure investments that only a handful of organizations can afford.
Amazon EC2 Trn3 UltraServers, powered by AWS’s first 3nm AI chip, pack up to 144 Trainium3 chips into a single integrated system, delivering up to 4.4x more compute performance and 4x greater energy efficiency than Trainium2 UltraServers.
Customers achieve 3x higher throughput per chip while delivering 4x faster response times, reducing training times from months to weeks. Customers including Anthropic, Karakuri, Metagenomi, NetoAI, Ricoh, and Splash Music are reducing training and inference costs by up to 50 per cent with Trainium, while Decart is achieving 4x faster inference for real-time generative video at half the cost of GPUs, and Amazon Bedrock is already serving production workloads on Trainium3.
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