From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
Global tech giant Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is currently locked in a legal tussle with Nigeria’s Data Protection Commission (NDPC) over a hefty $32.8 million fine and multiple corrective orders issued against it for alleged violations of Nigerians’ data privacy rights.
The NDPC has asked the Federal High Court, Abuja, to throw out Meta’s suit, insisting the case is faulty and that the court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain it.
In a preliminary objection, the Commission described Meta’s lawsuit as “grossly incompetent,” arguing that the tech company failed to follow the procedures laid down in Order 34 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules, 2019, which guides judicial review matters.
The fine and sanctions against Meta stem from an investigation launched after the Commission received a petition from a civil society group, the Personal Data Protection Awareness Initiative (PDPAI). The petition alleged that Meta was running behavioural advertising on its platforms without the express consent of Nigerian users.
The NDPC said its probe uncovered several disturbing findings, including Meta’s alleged unauthorised use of sensitive personal data, such as details about the sex lives and drug use of minors, manipulated profiles of journalists, and even the processing of explicit childbirth footage.
The Commission also accused Meta of failing to file its 2022 data compliance audit, violating rules on cross-border data transfers, and processing the personal data of non-users, individuals who do not have accounts on Meta platforms.
Meta, however, is contesting the NDPC’s actions, claiming that it was denied a fair hearing. In a motion filed on March 19, Meta’s lead counsel, Prof. Gbolahan Elias (SAN), argued that the Commission acted in breach of Section 36 of the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantees the right to a fair hearing.
The company said the NDPC failed to give adequate notice or an opportunity to respond before slamming the sanctions. Meta is asking the court to quash the corrective orders and nullify the fine.
But the NDPC is standing its ground. Its counsel, Adeola Adedipe (SAN), argued that Meta’s originating summons does not align with its attached statements, making the suit defective. He accused Meta of trying to smuggle new reliefs into the case under the guise of amending its claims, an act he said is not allowed by court rules.
In response, Meta’s legal team filed a motion on April 23 asking for permission to amend its initial court documents to reflect the reliefs already outlined in its originating summons. The company said this was necessary for clarity and would not prejudice the NDPC.
The case is currently before Justice James Omotosho, who had earlier granted Meta permission to commence judicial review but refused to suspend the NDPC’s sanctions. Instead, he ordered an accelerated hearing of the matter.
After listening to both sides, Justice Omotosho adjourned the case to October 3, 2025, when the court will deliver a consolidated ruling on both Meta’s motion to amend its filings and the NDPC’s preliminary objection.
The case is seen as a critical test of Nigeria’s new data protection regime, which came into effect in June 2023 when President Bola Tinubu signed the Nigeria Data Protection Act into law.
Meta is not the only company facing NDPC sanctions. In May, the Commission slammed a N766.2 million fine on Multichoice Nigeria, operators of DSTV and GOTV, for breaching data privacy rules.
The NDPC accused Multichoice of illegally transferring subscribers’ data across borders and collecting the personal information of people who are not even customers.
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