The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed an application by the Data Privacy Lawyers Association of Nigeria (DPLAN) to be joined as a defendant in an ongoing suit filed by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) over the management of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a ruling delivered by Justice James Omotosho, the court held that the joinder application lacked merit and that DPLAN was neither a necessary nor a proper party in the suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NIBSS had instituted the suit seeking a court declaration affirming its statutory authority to manage and maintain the BVN database. The organization relies on the provisions of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act 2007, the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020, and the Revised Regulatory Framework for BVN Operations (2021) to support its claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NIBSS joined as defendants the Digital Rights Lawyers Initiative, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Attorney-General of the Federation\u2014whom it accused of either directly or indirectly filing multiple lawsuits challenging its authority over the BVN database and alleging constitutional violations of privacy rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Digital Rights Lawyers Initiative denied these allegations in its court filings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On April 14, Ayomide T. Ahmed, counsel for DPLAN, sought to have the association joined as a defendant. He argued that the reliefs sought by NIBSS\u2014particularly the request to bar any institution from challenging its authority\u2014would affect the legal and constitutional rights of DPLAN members as data privacy professionals and bank account holders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DPLAN described itself as a body of privacy and data protection experts with vested interests in the suit’s outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, opposition came swiftly from the other parties:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Esan described a pattern of coordinated legal challenges aimed at frustrating a fair hearing and urged the court not to allow the proceedings to be delayed by “forum shopping” and procedural manoeuvres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his ruling, Justice Omotosho emphasized that only necessary parties\u2014those whose legal interests would be directly affected by the court\u2019s decision\u2014can be joined to a suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA necessary party is one whose rights will be affected by the orders of the court. This is not the case with the applicant,\u201d he ruled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The judge concluded that DPLAN\u2019s interests could be adequately represented by the Attorney-General, already a party to the suit. He cautioned against the notion that individual or associative interests could entitle every Nigerian bank account holder to join the litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf that were the case, every Nigerian would be a potential defendant. That cannot be the law,\u201d Omotosho added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Consequently, the court dismissed DPLAN\u2019s motion for joinder and adjourned the case to May 26, 2025, for the substantive hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This case marks a significant step in NIBSS\u2019s legal strategy to clarify and affirm its authority over the BVN database amid rising privacy-related litigation. The BVN, a biometric-based identity system, is a critical component of Nigeria\u2019s banking infrastructure, linking all of an individual\u2019s bank accounts under a single unique identifier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NIBSS is seeking judicial protection against what it calls a “spate of legal challenges” that could undermine the integrity and administration of the BVN framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the hearing resumes later this month, industry watchers and data rights advocates will be monitoring closely for the outcome, which could shape the legal contours of data governance in Nigeria’s financial ecosystem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed an application by the Data Privacy Lawyers Association of Nigeria (DPLAN) to be joined as a defendant in an ongoing suit filed by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) over the management of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) database. In a ruling delivered by Justice James […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":48626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-court-room-news","category-techlaw-digest"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t