Tajudeen Abbas, the Speaker of the House of Representatives in Nigeria, has announced the National Assembly’s intention to develop legislation aimed at regulating Artificial Intelligence (AI).

He made this statement during the 7th Convocation Ceremony, organized by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies in collaboration with the University of Benin, held in Abuja.

Speaker Abbas emphasized the importance of establishing a regulatory framework for emerging technologies in Nigeria, highlighting the need to curb potential misuse and abuse of technologies like AI and robotics.

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While recognizing the considerable benefits of these technologies, he also pointed out the potential for AI to reflect or reinforce biases, deepen inequalities by automating routine tasks and displacing jobs, and give rise to identity theft and fraud through the creation of highly convincing deep fakes.

He expressed concern about malicious use of AI-created content to misinform, deceive, and damage individuals’ and brands’ reputations, leading to societal unrest and fraud.

In light of these challenges and opportunities, Speaker Abbas indicated that the 10th House of Representatives would engage with stakeholders and experts to address issues of privacy, accountability, ethics, security, and intellectual property related to AI.

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The House also aims to integrate emerging technologies like AI, robotics, and renewable energy into the school curriculum in collaboration with the executive branch.

Speaker Abbas announced his intention to introduce a bill to regulate Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the coming weeks, a move that would make Nigeria one of the first African countries and among a few parliaments worldwide to undertake such an effort.