Yes Daddy Audio: Do government agencies have right to monitor your calls? A Neusroom explainer
The Nigerian internet space has been abuzz with debates, analysis, and theories since Saturday, April 1, 2023, following the release of a recorded audio call purported to be a conversation between Labour Party’s presidential candidate Peter Obi and Bishop David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church.
In the audio clip, first published by online newspaper Peoples’ Gazette, one of the callers believed to be Obi could be heard describing the election as a religious war and asking the other person on the other end of the call believed to be Oyedepo to help him appeal to Christians in the South-west and North-central states to vote for him during the presidential election. While many continue to weigh the legal implications of describing an election as a religious war, others are wondering if their private phone conversations are being monitored by security agencies.
“By the provisions of the Nigerian Communication Act (NCA) 2003 and other extant Laws of the Federation, the Commission does not and cannot “track” nor “leak” telephone conversations of anyone,” Reuben Muoka, the director of public affairs of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), said in his reaction to allegations that the audio was leaked by NCC.
What the law says about monitoring and intercepting private calls of Nigerians
The 1999 Nigerian Constitution provides protection for the privacy of Nigerians. Section 37 of the Constitution states that the “privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondence, telephone conversations, and telegraphic communications are guaranteed and protected.” While the Constitution does not clarify how telephone conversations of Nigerians should be protected, the 2019 Lawful Interception of Communication Regulation offers guidelines on who is allowed by law to monitor or intercept communications in Nigeria.
In 2021, there were 173.56 billion minutes of calls made in Nigeria. Also, the number of SMS sent in 2021 was over 9.4 billion. With the volume of calls made by Nigerians, it is difficult for security agencies to monitor every call being made in the country. Hence, for calls to be intercepted, the regulation gives power to the National Security Adviser and Director of State Security Services (DSS) to seek a warrant in writing from a judge before intercepting or monitoring a call.
However, section 4 of the Act, which provides that in the case of immediate danger of death or serious injury to any person, national security, and activities having characteristics of organised crime, an authorised agency may initiate interception of communications without a warrant, many Nigerians are wondering if the leaked audio can be categorised as a threat to national security.
Notwithstanding the provision of the law, there have been claims that Nigerian security agencies monitor the calls of political actors during an election. Neusroom cannot independently confirm this claim.
While the authenticity and source of the audio call remain unclear, the regulation gives a fine of ₦5,000,000.00 for violators.
“Any person, Licensee or its officers that fail to comply with the provisions of these Regulations shall be liable to a fine of ₦5,000,000.00, and where such an offense is allowed to continue, such person, Licensee, or any of its officers shall be liable to a daily default penalty of ₦500,000.00.”
Meanwhile, Obi has also denied the audio call and promised to sue the news media platform where the story originated from.
In a thread of tweets on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, Obi, said the audio is part of a campaign of calumny launched against him by the APC and another attempt “to divert our attention from our blatantly stolen mandate”.
“The audio call being circulated is fake, and at no time throughout the campaign and now did I ever say, think, or even imply that the 2023 election is, or was a religious war,” Obi tweeted. “Our legal team have been instructed to take appropriate legal actions against Peoples Gazette and others.”
