Senate Moves To Legalise Electronic Transactions, Criminalises Online Fraud

The Senate, yesterday considered a bill to provide enabling framework that would legalise all forms of electronic transactions undertaken in Nigeria.
The bill which has scaled second reading seeks to prohibit and criminalise online fraud, and also make it legally possible to admit evidence of electronic transactions between parties in court during proceedings.
Sponsor of the bill, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (APC – Ogun Central), said the online transactions in the United States reached three trillion dollars in 2014 alone.
According to the lawmaker, online transactions account for well over ten trillion dollars in sales of goods and service globally.
Explaining the importance of enacting the necessary regime for electronic transaction in Nigeria, Amosun said that the European Union in the year 2000 approved a directive on electronic commerce which required member-states to implement same.
He added, “The United Kingdom passed the Electronic Communication Act 2000. Even our African neighbour, South Africa passed the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 25 of 2002.
“All the developed countries, including Malaysia, China, India, Brazil, Singapore, Japan, etc. have laws on electronic contract, and this has resulted into remarkable increase in their business transactions.”
The lawmaker, however, lamented that Nigeria’s extant laws provide inadequate protection for e-commerce businesses and consumers in the country.
“Every day, we are involved in electronic contracting, either through the use of the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) to transact business or when we book our flight tickets online.
“These electronic transactions, which are the ones we can manage now, are not covered by our legal regime”.