By Muhammad Sal
The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has told a Federal High Court in Abuja to throw out Meta’s challenge to its $32.8 million data privacy fine, insisting the tech giant broke the rules.
Federal regulators and Meta Platforms Inc., the company behind Facebook and Instagram, are in a legal fight over one of the largest data privacy fines in Nigeria’s history. NDPC fined Meta $32.8 million earlier this year and demanded the company follow eight corrective orders for allegedly mishandling the personal data of Nigerian users.
The trouble started after a civil society group, Personal Data Protection Awareness Initiative (PDPAI), petitioned NDPC. PDPAI accused Meta of running targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram without clear permission from local users. NDPC’s investigation dug up several serious issues, like using sensitive personal details, including information about minors, changing journalists’ profiles, and circulating explicit childbirth videos without consent.
The Commission also slammed Meta for not submitting a required compliance audit from 2022, breaking rules on moving user data abroad, and even collecting details on people who don’t use its platforms.
Meta disagrees with both the findings and how the case got to this point. The company took NDPC to court, saying they were not given a fair hearing or enough warning to respond before the ruling. Their legal team is arguing that the orders go against the Nigerian Constitution’s guarantee of fair process.
NDPC, on its part, asked the court to end Meta’s case right away. Their lawyer, Adeola Adedipe, SAN, said Meta’s court filings don’t add up and break the court’s rules for such lawsuits. He claimed Meta is trying to change what it is asking for under the cover of an amendment, which isn’t allowed.
Meta’s lawyers responded in April, asking for permission to tidy up and match their documents. They say this correction would clear things up but would not harm NDPC’s position. Justice James Omotosho allowed Meta to start its judicial review but refused to pause NDPC’s enforcement orders. He set a faster timetable for hearings and adjourned to October 3, when he will give a combined ruling on the main points.
NDPC said Meta’s actions were a serious threat to the data rights of Nigerians, and the fine is part of wider efforts to protect users since the Nigeria Data Protection Act became law in June 2023. “Meta’s suit is grossly incompetent,” NDPC argued in court.
Meta’s team insists they deserve a fair hearing: “We were denied due process and an opportunity to respond before these orders were made,” the company’s lead counsel said.
On October 3, 2025, the court will decide if Meta’s case moves forward or if NDPC’s fine stands. NDPC has already shown it means business, it recently fined Multichoice Nigeria over similar privacy breaches.
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