FG Probes Firm For Supporting Illegal Online Lenders

An unnamed consulting firm is currently been invested by the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB) for supporting the illegal activities of some online lenders in Nigeria.

The development was confirmed by the National Commissioner of the bureau, Vincent Olatunji in an interview with Punch.

There had been a report that an unnamed consulting firm supported the operations of Soko Lending Company, an online lending platform.

It was stated that the action of the firm prompted the investigation by the NDPB.

The National Commissioner of the NDPB said, “We got a lead that one major consulting firm in Nigeria is working with them and we are trying to go against that one too. We are investigating it.”

He disclosed that there is a joint committee, which includes government agencies such as the National Information Technology Development Agency, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Communications Commission and the NDPB.

According to the National Commissioner, this committee intends to introduce a regulatory framework for loan applications in the country.

He said, “The good news is that we now have a national joint committee of a lot of Federal Government institutions, such as NITDA, NDPB, FCCPC, ICPC, Nigeria Police, CBN and the NCC. We are doing a collaboration to look at this issue. The CBN will approach it from the part of the regulatory body for the financial sector. The ICPC will look at the perspective of financial crime. NITDA will look at it from the perspective of technology. NDPB will look at it from the perspective of privacy and protection. NCC will look at it from the perspective of telecommunication.

“So, we are looking at regulations and technology, and trying to issue a framework, which we are going to issue shortly to guide them so that they don’t just take advantage of Nigerians.”