The Management of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), on Tuesday, notified all sector based regulatory Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and the general public, that, in fulfilment of its mandate, it has taken steps to harmonise Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) related projects in Nigeria.
In a statement issued in Abuja, the Director General of the agency, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami said “This is in line with one of the resolutions reached by a recent high level meeting held at the Office of the Acting President, and chaired by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on ICT which was attended by the Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service, the Director General of National Identity Management Commission and myself”.
“The meeting was convened to resolve the challenges of lack of control and central regulation of the PKI services currently delivered by government establishments mandated.
The statement further listed in parts, all resolutions from the meeting as follows;
- PKI Administration: As part of the harmonisation process, NITDA will take ownership, administration and regulation of the National PKI, ensuring full use and benefits of the associated PKI-as-a-Service (PaaS), including the issuance of Document Signer Certificates, the management of the Public Key Directory (PKD) via the Nigerian Country Signing Certificate Authority (CSCA) Master-list.
- PKI Services: Inline with the Federal Government’s initiative on Digital Economy, this will further enhance use of digital certificates to authenticate documents e.g. Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) Certificates, Tax Clearance Certificates and other legal documents.
- IT Procurements: All MDAs as directed by FEC should endeavour to seek IT project approval from NITDA, in order to avoid past experiences of huge losses incurred through multiple or conflicting projects.
- Coordinating PKI Harmonisation Initiative: The Office of the Vice President is responsible for coordinating the harmonisation initiative, as part of its effort to move the nation on a path towards a Digital Economy.
Continuing, he said “The harmonisation process would include NITDA’s inauguration of a National Stakeholders’ Harmonisation Committee, bringing together all stakeholders in the industry, to recommend the best model for PKI infrastructure in the country”.
He said all sector based regulators would be contacted by the Agency, to provide information on current efforts related to PKI in their various sectors. This would include MDAs that require some form of PKI services to carry out their statutory functions in a digital environment.
