The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has earmarked ₦35 million in its 2025 budget proposal for “Capacity Building on Cybersecurity and Data Centre Management,” following a cyberattack that compromised its website on December 18, 2024.
According to The PUNCH, the breach, disclosed via the bureau’s official X (formerly Twitter) account, led to warnings for the public to disregard information on the platform, raising concerns about the agency’s digital infrastructure. As Nigeria’s primary source of statistical data, the NBS’s vulnerability underscores the critical need for cybersecurity enhancements.
In addition to cybersecurity, the NBS has outlined several initiatives in its ₦9.85 billion budget aimed at modernising operations and improving service delivery. Among these are ₦500 million for the Labour Force Survey, ₦80 million for the Consumer Price Index production, and ₦60 million for quarterly GDP compilations.
Other allocations include ₦55 million for the National Agricultural Sample Survey, ₦50 million for tracking the 8-Point Agenda, and ₦45 million for service delivery capacity building. Notable projects also feature ₦15 million for demographic statistics and ₦9 million for the Annual Abstract of Statistics.
The bureau’s personnel costs account for the majority of the budget at ₦6.65 billion. However, the website hack, which lasted about a week, may delay critical government reports, underscoring the urgency of the proposed cybersecurity investments.
Nigeria faces escalating cyber threats, with organisations averaging 3,759 attacks weekly, according to Check Point Software Technologies’ 2024 African Perspectives on Cyber Security Report. Public sector entities alone experience 1,791 attacks weekly, dominated by ransomware and botnet activities, revealing the critical vulnerability of government institutions as the nation accelerates digitalisation.
