Many Nigerians are wondering aloud the real reason that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, is asking Nigerians to submit their social media accounts to their banks to fortify their Know Your Customer, KYC, needs.

Titled: Customer Due Diligence Regulation 2023, the requirement is meant to help combat terrorism and financial crimes through a more thorough customer identification. The information the banks are required to obtain from their customers, according to the CBN gazetted legislation, are as follows:

Legal name and any other names used (such as maiden name), permanent address (full physical address), residential address (where the customer can be located), telephone number, e-mail address, and social media handle; date and place of birth, bank verification number; tax identification number; nationality; occupation; public position held; and name of employer¦

They also require: an official personal identification number or other unique identifier contained in an unexpired document issued by a government agency, that bears a name, photograph and signature of the customer such as a passport, national identification card, residence permit, social security records or drivers license¦type of account and nature of the banking relationship, and signature, and politically exposed persons, PEPs, status.

The policy is supposed to provide an additional layer of authentication and verification in the KYC process which, as the CBN claims, will reduce identity thefts and make the banking system more secure.

We do not see what a persons social media handle is doing in the KCY process. There is no relevant information that a social media handle has that the banks do not already have and much more. For instance, with the phone number which gives the banks access to the customers Subscriber Identity Module, SIM Card, which is already supposedly stored in the Nigerian Identity Management Commission, NIMCs, database, all calls(communication) can be traced to the subscriber or bank customer.

In addition, bank customers have already been made to obtain or submit their National Identification numbers, NINs, and Bank Verification Numbers, BVNs. Banks have access to customer emails, physical addresses and employment information. The inclusion of the social media handle raises a red flag because in the first place, it is not necessary since more cast-iron identity requirements have already been obtained from the customers.

All that the banks and regulatory/law enforcement agencies need to do is use them for their work. The SIM Card, BVN and NIN alone can identify anyone if the authorities bother to use them. Government agencies are already monitoring the social media.

The only possible reason to force the banks to obtain their customers social media handles could only be sinister: clamping down on citizen rights to free speech. Governments, perhaps for partisan or other purposes, could tamper with our freedom of expression and property rights. It is another social media gagging gambit.