A rare convergence of Nigeria’s leading legal minds, security chiefs and anti-graft authorities on Thursday exposed the growing tension between civil liberties and law enforcement under the Cybercrimes Act, with former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Kanu Agabi (SAN), and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) calling for stronger institutions and legal reforms, even as the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi, and Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, pressed for more aggressive prosecution of cyber-enabled crimes.
The debate unfolded at the public presentation of Electronic Evidence, Second Edition (With Evidence Act, 2011) and A Compendium of Cases on Electronic Evidence (Volume II, 2020–2025) authored by retired High Court judge, Hon. Justice (Prof.) Alaba Omolaye-Ajileye, an event that became a broader conversation on cybercrime, electronic evidence, artificial intelligence, judicial independence and asset recovery.
Agabi opened the discussion by urging Nigeria to confront corruption and illicit financial flows with renewed urgency, arguing that billions of dollars allegedly stashed abroad should be returned to rebuild the country.
Addressing the DSS Director-General and the EFCC Chairman seated beside him, the former AGF said: “We have billions—hundreds of billions—abroad.”
“This generation will have failed if we do not bring back those funds. That is what we must do now. However we do it, we must do it.”
Beyond asset recovery, Agabi urged Nigerians to strengthen rather than weaken public institutions, insisting that the judiciary remained the country’s last hope despite its imperfections.
“We do not have a perfect judiciary. No nation has a perfect judiciary. We are not going to transform our judiciary by words of condemnation. What our judges need now are words of encouragement,” he said.
He argued that the resilience of Nigerian judges had helped preserve constitutional democracy despite enormous pressures.
“Had it not been for the courage and competence of our judges, had it not been for their dedication and sacrifices, this nation would long since have perished.”
Agabi also described Justice Ajileye’s books on electronic evidence as timely interventions in one of the fastest-evolving areas of Nigerian law, urging lawyers to embrace continuous learning and legal scholarship.
While Agabi focused on strengthening institutions, Olanipekun challenged the legal community to revisit one of the country’s most contentious cyber laws.
The senior advocate urged judges and legal scholars to undertake a fresh judicial examination of Section 24 of the Cybercrimes Act, arguing that laws affecting online expression and digital communication should continually be tested against constitutional guarantees.
“We are dealing with the Cybercrime Act. We must not leave this place without challenging, without interrogating ourselves about that area of our law,” Olanipekun said.
Drawing attention specifically to Section 24, he added: “I must draw attention now to the Cybercrime Act, Section 24. It’s a vital area of our law.”
Addressing Justice Ajileye, he remarked: “We are giving you that assignment.”
Olanipekun maintained that cybercrime legislation must strike a careful balance between combating digital offences and protecting constitutional freedoms in an era of expanding online communication.
While senior lawyers debated the future of the law, the DSS Director-General argued that the greater challenge lies in ensuring that existing legislation is effectively enforced.
Ajayi disclosed that the Service had deliberately identified a number of strategic cybercrime prosecutions capable of serving as deterrents.
“We are prosecuting a number of suspects who committed offences under that Act,” he said.
“We have picked one, or two, or three, four, five, six that will give impact.”
Without naming the individual, the DSS chief revealed that one of the pending prosecutions involves a presidential candidate alleged to have made statements against the President, declining further comment because the matter is before the court.
“There is one of them who is a presidential candidate and disparaged a sitting President. We chose that one. I can’t talk about him because he is in court.”
Ajayi warned that cybercrime extends beyond internet fraud, saying unchecked online incitement and abusive digital conduct could fuel violence and undermine national security.
“If you allow these crimes to go on, you are going to wait for a bigger act,” he warned.
“If a man wakes up and says, ‘You are this, you are that,’ and nobody punishes it, somebody will proceed to carry a weapon and kill one of them.”
Calling for greater judicial support, he added: “If you convict one, that has impact. Others will be deterred.”
On his part, EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede linked financial crimes directly to insecurity, terrorism financing and economic hardship, insisting that illicit financial flows remain one of the biggest threats confronting the country.
“There is no doubt that one of the major problems we have in this country is financial crimes,” he said.
“Talk of insecurity, talk of lack of economic development, talk of poverty—I think the time has come for us to join hands.”
He disclosed that the Commission had recently prosecuted about 70 suspects accused of helping terrorists and bandits launder ransom payments.
“Recently, we had to prosecute close to about 70 people who were involved in helping terrorists and bandits to launder ransom,” Olukoyede revealed.
The anti-graft agency, he added, has also begun deploying artificial intelligence in criminal investigations, but called for urgent legal reforms to regulate AI-generated evidence.
“We have already started deploying the use of AI for investigation,” he said.
“What I’m cracking my brain about is how do I generate evidence and make it admissible.”
He urged lawmakers and legal scholars to begin developing legislation that would address the evidential and legal implications of artificial intelligence.
Earlier, the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Beatrice Jedy-Agba, representing the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), described electronic evidence as indispensable to modern justice administration.
“The importance of electronic and digital evidence in our legal architecture cannot be overstated,” she said.
“In today’s age, where transactions, communications and disputes are increasingly conducted electronically, the ability of our courts to admit and interpret electronic evidence is indispensable to the administration of justice.”
She praised Justice Ajileye’s scholarship, describing his books as significant contributions to Nigeria’s evolving jurisprudence on electronic evidence and digital justice.
Taken together, the interventions reflected a growing consensus among Nigeria’s legal, judicial and security establishments that the country’s cybercrime framework has reached a defining moment—one requiring constitutional scrutiny, stronger enforcement, technological innovation and closer collaboration between the Bar, the Bench and law enforcement agencies to confront increasingly sophisticated digital crimes.