A Federal High Court in Lagos has agreed with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mandate to financial institutions to collect social media handles of customers as part of their standard Know-Your-Customer (KYC) process.
In a ruling on Thursday, May 16, in a suit filed by Chris Eke, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba said he could not see the point of the plaintiff that the CBN regulation violate the right to privacy of bank customers.
The Lagos-based lawyer had prayed the court for a declaration that the new CBN regulation, as outlined in Section 6(a)(iv) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (Customer Due Diligence) Regulations, 2023, is undemocratic, unconstitutional, and null and void.
Eke argued that the regulation was inconsistent with Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which guarantees the right to privacy of citizens. He also asked for perpetual injunction to stop the CBN from enforcing the guideline.
The CBN in turn filed a notice of preliminary objection, challenging the competence of the suit. The apex bank argued that the regulation does not interfere with the private lives of citizens as claimed.
Judges’ Ruling
Justice Dimgba ruled that the preliminary objection of the bank had merit and struck out the suit. The judge was of the view that social media handle is nothing different from an email address or phone number, which are standard contact details when conducting due diligence.
“I do not see how this infringes on the right to privacy. I should even say that the essence of having a social media account was for one to be publicly visible communication-wise. It, therefore, appears quite ironic, though wryly, that one can suggest that asking for information about a social media handle with which the individual exposes and immerses himself or herself in the public, can amount to a violation of privacy rights, which rights itself is all about isolation of one from public glare.
“A social media handle is left at large for the world to see, being in the public space, everyone enjoys the liberty to have access to it whether or not consent was obtained. It would be highly unreasonable to hold the Respondent in breach of privacy for what other persons have access to”.
The apex bank in a Customer Due Diligence Regulations 2023 report directed financial institution to henceforth collect customer’s social media handles. The bank said then the policy was aimed at ensuring compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws, while it also aligned with international best practices.
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