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.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

A leading global venture capital firm, Accel, has expanded its pre-seed scaling programme with Accel Atoms AI and Accel Atoms X.

In a statement made available to Business Post, the firm said startup founders of India extraction in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) ecosystem have the opportunity to receive funding support of up to $1 million in equity or convertible notes.

In addition, selected startups in the AI program could access perks worth more than $5 million from Accel’s network partners, and personalized mentorship.

The Accel Atoms AI program seeks visionary Indian-origin founders based anywhere in the world who are using AI for business applications or building foundational tools for the AI ecosystem.

The program welcomes startups working across the AI stack—from foundational models (like small language models on the edge, video/robotics data, etc.) to infrastructure (testing tools, securing LLM systems) and applications (core AI models and agents).

“We’re seeing a fundamental shift where Indian founders in AI are moving to global markets earlier than ever before, to be closer to their first customers.

“These founders understand that while AI is borderless, execution isn’t. They’re building from day zero with global ambition, but they need the right support system to navigate cross-border complexities. That’s what we’re providing through Accel Atoms – the ability to build and iterate with the backing of capital, mentorship, and infrastructure without being constrained by geography,” a Partner at Accel, Prayank Swaroop, said.

Another partner, Anand Daniel, noted that, “Indian and Indian-origin founders are right at the center of the inflection point in AI.

“The success of companies like Ema and Bridgetown Research shows us that founders tapping into the cross-border advantage – building what customers want, with great speed, and while tapping into the breadth and depth of India’s talent pool – can beat global competition by a significant margin.”

The Accel Atoms X is a new track for breakthrough innovation led by a Partner at Accel, Pratik Agarwal.

The program focuses on LeapTech innovations that radically improve the human experience through novel products, technologies, or business models. These ideas often require long development cycles, deep conviction, and non-linear thinking.

“LeapTech ideas often take years of iteration before product-market fit is clear—but their ability to fundamentally reshape how we live or build is unmistakable.

“With Atoms X, we’re moving beyond the traditional cohort model to back founders right at the inception whether they’re still refining the idea or pre-revenue. Our goal is to offer early conviction and a deeply supportive ecosystem from day zero,” Agarwal stated.

Since its launch in 2021, Accel Atoms has backed over 40 early-stage startups across sectors, many of which have gone on to raise significant follow-on funding and build category-defining businesses.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The federal government has announced plans to establish a National Design and Development Agency to help innovators refine their concepts, secure funding, and access markets.

The Minister of Education, Mr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this during a visit to Innov8 Hub in Abuja on Monday, noting that the agency will help bridge the gap between local innovation and commercial success by supporting inventors, start-ups, and small-scale manufacturers across the country.

Mr Alausa reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for innovation, noting that the government would continue investing in human capital and entrepreneurial development to secure Nigeria’s future.

He noted that although Nigerians rank among the most creative and talented people globally, many struggle to transform ideas into market-ready products.

“There are so many innovative Nigerians. Our job as government is to meet you halfway and give you the opportunity you need to unleash that potential,” he said.

“We want to move ideas from the bank of concepts to the market,” he said.

Mr Alausa said the new agency would provide a platform for community-informed financing, enabling innovators to submit their ideas for support.

While acknowledging that only a fraction of innovation projects succeed commercially, he stressed that even five to 10 per cent of viable ideas could transform millions of lives.

“Five to ten per cent of ideas, when brought to life, can change millions of lives. What you’re doing here is even more important, you’re focusing on real-life solutions we urgently need,” he said.

The minister also advised innovators to patent their products, stressing the importance of intellectual property and market readiness.

“You need to aggressively move these products to the market, there are unlimited opportunities in Nigeria waiting to be tapped,” he added.

He commended Innov8 Hub for its work in agricultural processing and small-scale manufacturing and urged stronger collaboration between innovators, manufacturers, and financiers to ensure broader market access.