An internet surveillance contract worth $40 million (N6billion) awarded secretly by the Nigerian government to an Israeli firm has been ordered that it be suspended immediately by the House of Representatives.
The lower house of the National Assembly reached this resolution on the controversial project which had generated widespread anger and condemnation, ordering that no further action be taken on it until three of its committees complete an investigation in three weeks.
The top secret project, was awarded by the Jonathan administration to Elbit Systems, an Israeli Info tech firm, to spy on millions of Nigerian internet users; which is put at over 47 million. The move was viewed as an act of desperation by a government which is increasingly frustrated by the unrestrained use of the internet to attack government officials and policies.
But the authorities, who have maintained a studied silence since the clandestine project became public knowledge, passed it off as an intelligence gathering effort in the face of growing insecurity and fundamentalist threat.
In a motion moved by the chairman of the House Committee on ICT, Ibrahim Gusau (Gusau/Tsafe Federal Constituency, Zamfara State), the House said the project will infringe on the privacy of Nigerians and argued that the so-called intelligence gathering, “may not be the solution” to the nation’s security woes.
The House also frowned at the secrecy surrounding the contract award, which lawmakers agreed contravened federal financial regulations relating to contract awards, as stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.
Three committees, namely, Information and Computer Technology, Human Rights, and National Security, are to conduct inquiry into the project and make its findings known in three weeks.
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