ABSTRACT
Recent headlines revealed how a politician's tax
certificate, a government-issued document, became public fodder and
sparked serious questions about privacy. This article examines
whether sensitive records such as tax clearances can be freely
circulated once they are classified as public documents under
Nigerian law. The Evidence Act defines what constitutes a public
document, while the Freedom of Information Act guarantees access to
official records but explicitly exempt personal data from
disclosure. The Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 further
strengthens privacy by requiring any processing of personal data to
be lawful, fair, and proportionate. This article highlights key
judicial decisions, including Folashade Molehin v. UBA and PDPA v.
Nizamiye Hospital, alongside international principles such as GDPR
Article 6, to demonstrate that public records containing personal
information cannot be disclosed without lawful justification. It
concludes by
