FG orders Nigerians with bank accounts to obtain and submit Self-Certification form

September 17, 2020 9:46 PM

The Federal Government has asked every Nigerian with bank accounts to go to their financial institutions to obtain, fill and submit a self-certification form.

President Muhammadu Buhari. [Twitter/@BashirAhamaad]

The government announced this in a series of tweets on Thursday, September 17, 2020, via its verified Twitter handle.

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Account holders in banks, insurance companies and any other financial institutions are required to submit the self-certification form to their respective financial Institutions.

According to the FG, the forms are required by the relevant financial institutions to carry out due diligence procedures in line with the Income Tax Regulations 2019.

The self-certification form is said to be available in three categories, which are for entities, individuals and controlling person (individuals having a controlling interest in a legal person, trustee, etc).

The tweets also 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’.

It is not clear yet how the self-certification differs from the bank verification number (BVN), which is used to link all bank accounts belonging to an individual.