The original instrument confirming Nigeria’s accession to the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime was received on 28 August 2022 in New York in the fringes of the UN Ad Hoc Committee on ICT crime. The Convention will enter into force for Nigeria on 1 November 2022.

This comes after Nigeria was invited in 2017 to accede to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime as a result of a number of years of co-operation between Nigerian authorities and the Council of Europe.

Thus, 82 States are now either Parties (67), or have signed it or been invited to accede (15).

The Convention on Cybercrime (also known as the Budapest Convention) is more than a legal document; it is a framework that permits hundreds of practitioners from Parties to share experience and create relationships that facilitate co-operation in specific cases, including in emergency situations, beyond the specific provisions foreseen in this Convention.

Any country may make use of the Convention on Cybercrime as a guideline, check list or model law. Furthermore, becoming a Party to this treaty entails additional advantages.

 Council of Europe: Convention on Cybercrime (Treaty Office webpage)

 Council of Europe: Convention on Cybercrime and its Protocols (Cybercrime Division webpage)

Council of Europe: 20 years of the Convention on Cybercrime

 Council of Europe: Cybercrime Convention Committee (T-CY)

 Octopus Platform: Nigeria’s Country Wiki profile

 Leaflet: Joining the Convention on Cybercrime: Benefits: EN | FR | ES, June 2022 (.pdf)