FG Asks Bank Account Holders to Undergo Self-certification Process

FG Asks Bank Account Holders to Undergo Self-certification Process

By Peter Uzoho

The federal government has directed holders of accounts with financial institutions to undergo a self-certification process.

The directive was announced yesterday via the federal government’s Twitter handle.

Account-holders are required to obtain, complete and submit the self-certification forms to their respective financial institutions.

The federal government said individuals who hold accounts in different financial institutions would have to collect and submit separate forms to each of the institutions.

Three categories of forms for entities, individuals and controlling person -individuals having a controlling interest in a legal person, trustee, are said to be available

“The forms are required by the relevant financial institutions to carry out due diligence procedures in line with the Income Tax Regulations 2019,” it said.

“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.”

The Cable reported that it was not yet clear how the self-certification process differs from the bank verification number (BVN) and national identification number (NIN).

The BVN is a prerequisite to owning a bank account and it is used to link all bank and pension accounts owned by an individual.

The NIN is also another form of identification introduced by the federal government and is a prerequisite for getting an international passport.

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