The Federal High Court in Lagos has upheld a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulation requiring financial institutions to collect customers’ social media handles as part of their Know-Your-Customer (KYC) procedures, ruling it does not infringe on privacy rights.
Justice Nnamdi Dimgba struck out a lawsuit filed by Lagos-based lawyer Chris Eke, who argued that the regulation in Section 6(a)(iv) of the CBN (Customer Due Diligence) Regulations, 2023, was unconstitutional.
Eke sought a declaration that the regulation was null and void and an injunction to prevent its enforcement.
The CBN challenged the lawsuit’s validity, arguing that the regulation did not interfere with privacy.
Justice Dimgba agreed, ruling that the requirement for social media handles was akin to providing email addresses and phone numbers for contact and due diligence purposes.
In his judgment, Justice Dimgba stated, “The provision of a social media handle is the same as the provision of email addresses, phone numbers, and other means by which a potential customer of a bank can be contacted and due diligence conducted.”
The judge emphasized that the essence of having a social media account is to be publicly visible, making the argument of privacy infringement unreasonable.
He added, “The apprehension of the Applicant of his social interactions being monitored is manifestly speculative.”
Justice Dimgba concluded by striking out the suit and making no order as to costs.
