The Federal High Court in Lagos upheld an order of it Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Customer Due Diligence Regulations 2023 which requires banks to collect and verify customers’ social media handles as part of the Know-Your-Customer process.
The court upheld the order thereafter Chris Ekea Lagos-based lawyer, filed a suit against the CBN, alleging that the regulation is undemocratic, unconstitutional and in violation of a section of the 1999 Constitution.
Details
The CBN regulation, which was promulgated in 2023, is said to help fight financial crimes and terrorism, while also increasing the completeness of customer identification. Section 6 (IV) of the CBN Regulation requires Nigerian financial institutions to collecting and verifying customers’ social media handles; as part of the Know Your Customer (KYC) process, to improve the accuracy and depth of customer identification.
Chris Eke filed a suit where he asked the court for a permanent injunction restraining the CBN from enforcing the aforementioned regulation, the CBN, in a preliminary objection, challenged the jurisdiction of the suit, arguing that the regulation does not violate the applicant’s privacy.
Digging deeper
The court said the applicant’s claims that the requirements of the CBN regulations infringe on his right to privacy are too “ambitious”.
What they say
“These regulations are addressed and applied to financial institutions. It does not apply to individuals such as the applicant,” he said.
He also stated that while the applicant’s claim could be supported, it is speculative because he did not state that he has a financial institution account and was asked to provide his social media handle.
The judge also stated that providing a social media handle is the same as providing an email address, phone number and other details.
Accordingly, he dismissed the suit.
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