The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has struck out a suit challenging a section of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)Customer Due Diligence Regulations 2023.
The Section in dispute is Section 6(a)(iv) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (Customer Due Diligence) Regulations, 2023, which mandates banks to collect and verify customers’ social media handles as part of their Know-Your-Customer process.
The suit was filed by a Lagos-based lawyer, Chris Eke, against the CBN.
He sought a declaration holding that the said regulation is unconstitutional and a contravention of Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution which touches on the protection of the privacy of citizens.
But the CBN urged the court to dismiss the application for being incompetent.
In his verdict on Wednesday, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba held that the applicant made ambitious claims when he submitted that the requirements on the CBN Regulations for financial institutions to request and collect the social media handle of its customers as part of KYC infringed on his right to privacy.
The judge subsequently struck out the suit while uploading the preliminary objection of the CBN legal team.
In essence, Dimgba’s viewpoint is that providing a social media handle to a bank (or any other entity) should be viewed similarly to providing an email address or phone number.
It implies that these forms of communication are personal and should be afforded privacy protections under the law.
This interpretation suggests that the constitution’s privacy guarantees evolve to include new forms of communication technology, reflecting the changing nature of how people interact and share personal information.
Nairametrics previously reported that in 2023, the CBN released its Customer Due Diligence Regulations 2023 as part of its moves against financial crimes.