Market News

By Joseph Chibueze, Abuja

Less than a week after the release of the keenly awaited December inflation data, the website of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shut down over three weeks ago is still inactive and inaccessible to the public.

The NBS, on December 18 announced that its website had been compromised.

Although the bureau did not give details or the nature of the attack, it warned against using any information posted on the site until it was fully restored.

“Our team is actively working to resolve the issue and restore full functionality. We advise the public to disregard any messages or reports published on the website until further notice,” it said.

During this period of shutdown, the NBS has delayed the online publication of third-quarter reports on capital flows as well as updates on outstanding local and foreign debt for the same period.

So far, there is no assurance on when the statistics agency’s portal will be ready.

On January 15, the December consumer price index (CPI), which will show the rate headline inflation closed last year, is due for release.

The Director of Information and Public Relations at NBS, Sunday Ichedi, said in an interview that the agency was taking every security measure to ensure that the site is well secured against any future attack.

“You will agree with me that what happened was an embarrassment and we would not want it to happen again. That is why we are taking our time to put every security feature that will ward off any future attacks,” he said.

Although he did not give a specific date when the site will return, he said he hoped it would be ready as soon as possible.

The shutdown has significantly limited access to important data for researchers, policymakers, businesses and general consumption.

The attack occurred shortly after NBS released the Crime Experienced and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) 2024 report, which indicated that the average amount paid by Nigerians as ransom between May 2023 and April 2024, stood at N2.67 million while about N2.23 trillion was paid within the referenced period.

The report was alleged to have embarrassed the security agencies. The Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran was questioned by the Department of State Services (DSS) following the report.