Federal High Court in Abuja recently confirmed the authority of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) to oversee the Bank Verification Number (BVN) database throughout the country.
Gatekeepers News reports that This ruling aligns with the provisions of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act and other pertinent banking regulations.
Justice James Omotosho delivered the judgment, affirming the NIBSS’s statutory role. The court’s decision came after NIBSS’s legal representatives, including Wolemi Esan, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and Kofo Abdulsalam-Alada, the lead counsel for the CBN, sought a restraining order to prevent any Nigerian institution from contesting the agency’s authority to manage the BVN database.
The case arose from allegations by NIBSS that the Digital Rights Lawyers Initiative had filed multiple lawsuits, either directly or through intermediaries, questioning its authority over the BVN management. The initiative argued that this management could violate constitutional privacy rights. However, Justice Omotosho concluded that the BVN system does not infringe upon individuals’ constitutional right to privacy.
“The initiative does not infringe on the constitutional right to privacy but rather serves as a necessary tool for safeguarding public interest and enhancing financial security.
“NIBSS has the power to manage the BVN,” the judge said, citing relevant CBN laws.
“The court grants the reliefs of NIBSS as prayed,” he stated.
