Nigerians have angrily reacted to an announcement made by the federal government, mandating account holders to register and submit their self-certification forms for all the accounts they operate with the financial institutions in the country.
This comes as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on Thursday said failure to comply with the directive could lead to the forfeiture of bank accounts and other assets with financial institutions owned by Nigerians.
But the announcement has sparked outrage as many believed that all information required in the self-certification form has already been provided in the existing citizens’ data platforms which includes the Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), National Identification Numbers (NIN), passport, driver’s license, SIM card registration and voters’ card.
Nigerians have described the self-certification form as another parallel registration exercise, exposing government failure to harness citizens’ data collected over the years and feed them into a central database.
The FIRS Chairman, Muhammad Nami said in a circular on Thursday, announced that it is mandatory for all Nigerians operating bank accounts to register for self-certification at their respective banks.
“This is to notify the general public that all account holders in Financial Institutions (Banks, Insurance Companies, etc) are required to obtain, complete and submit Self – Certification Forms to their respective Financial Institutions.
“Persons holding accounts in different financial institutions is required to complete and submit the form to each one of the institutions.”
Nami explained that “the forms are required by the relevant financial institutions to carry out due diligence procedures in line with the Income Tax Regulations 2019.”
The FIRS boss noted that self-certification form is in 3 categories- form for entity, for controlling person (individuals having a controlling interest in a legal person, trustee, etc) and form for individual holders of bank accounts.
“Failure to comply with the requirement to administer or execute this form attracts sanctions which may include monetary penalty or inability to operate the account,” Nami said.
The new requirement by the agency of the Nigerian government was not accepted by many Nigerians who criticised the government’s inability to harness all the data collected from people in the past.
Reacting to the announcement, Mr Abubakar Usman, Spokesman for the Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, said the directive will impose additional stress on Nigerians.
“For the past months, entering banks has been hell as a result of restrictions brought about by Covid-19 and now FIRS want us to go to each bank and fill form. Common.
“What is BVN meant to serve if FIRS want us to go and do self certification,” Usman wrote in a tweet.
- Nigerians have been reacting this way:
Self-Certification is a code name for violation of privacy and giving the Nigerian government and FIRS opportunity to steal directly from your bank account. Its only in Nigeria one person would do Biometrics, BVN, National ID, Drivers license and still do Self-Certification. pic.twitter.com/4WKtV2ZZfm
— The Omonile Lawyer™ | Arsenal Fan | (@MatthewOttah) September 17, 2020
BVN. National Driver's license. National ID card. INEC registration. International Passport. Biometrics were taken in all these places. Why do you people like to see us suffer in queues for no reason? Can’t you take whatever data you need already? This is just so wrong. https://t.co/mbh4adyXLV
— The Godfather JP (@AyoOyalowo) September 17, 2020
Self certification forms 🤣🤣
Go and fill your forms.
FIRS is coming.
Nigerians must enjoy more levies, taxes, tariffs, inflation, insecurity and bad economy
— IKECHUKWU (@iykimo) September 17, 2020
The FIRS is about to pull one of the biggest stealing mechanisms off Nigerians! Hence the irrational thought process channelled towards this Self-Certification process.
(Like can Nigerians get over with this thing already lets start cashing out)?— Mazi Chuks 30Billion OT🐐 (@oti_pr) September 17, 2020
The reporting is for people with multiple jurisdictions, liable to taxation both in Nigeria and elsewhere. The communication is poor. If you are a foreigner working legitimately in Nigeria, then it is for you. Why you guys need rocket science to break this down is the real issue. https://t.co/FPeZ0lnNmd
— The Godfather JP (@AyoOyalowo) September 18, 2020
