Following the outrage that followed the Federal Government’s directive to Bank account holders in Nigeria to re-register their details, it has pologised to Nigerians.
The Federal Government on Thursday, directed all account holders in banks, including insurance companies, to fill and submit a Self-Confirmation form, a development, Nigerians believed, was the same with Bank Verification Number (BVN).
Federal Government’s apology was routed through an official tweet on Friday against the backdrop of public criticisms on social media since Thursday.
FG tweeted, “We apologise for the misleading tweets that went up yesterday, regarding the completion of self-certification forms by Reportable Persons. The message contained in the @firsNigeria Notice does not apply to everybody. FIRS will issue appropriate clarification shortly.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Inland Service (FIRS) in a statement on Friday clarified that only “reportable persons” are expected to submit the form.
The statement read, “This is to clarify the publication for financial institutions account holders in Nigeria to complete the self-certification form, pursuant to the Income Tax (Common Reporting Standard) Regulations 2019 which is for the fulfilment of Automatic Exchange of Information Requirements.
“The Self Certification form is basically to be administered on Reportable persons holding accounts in Financial institutions that are regarded as “Reportable Financial Institutions” under the CRS.
The statement explained reportable persons to be non-residents and residents who have more than one country.
“Financial Institutions are expected to administer the Self Certification form on such account holders when the information at its disposal indicates that the Account holder is a person resident for tax purpose in more than one jurisdiction.
“The information that indicates an account holder is a resident for tax purposes in more than one jurisdiction, is expected to be available to Financial Institutions during the account opening processes for the KYC and AML purpose.”
Earlier, the Nigerian government said all persons holding accounts in different financial institutions are required to complete and submit the form to each one of their institutions.
It had tweeted, “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.
“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.”
