*Say One-Time Amendment Rule Violates Constitution And Data Protection Act And Exposes Millions To Identity Theft
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The Incorporated Trustees of the Data Privacy Lawyers Association (DPLA) and Etisang Solomon, Esq. have filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the Federal High Court, Kaduna Judicial Division, challenging a recent circular that limits BVN-linked phone number amendments to a single instance.
The suit, filed on April 7, 2026, and stamped by the court on April 8, 2026, targets the CBN’s circular dated March 12, 2026, titled “Addendum to the Revised Regulatory Framework for Bank Verification Number (BVN) Operations and Watchlist for the Nigerian Banking Industry.” The contested clause (c) of that circular states that amendments to phone numbers linked to a BVN shall be allowed only once, with the new provisions set to take effect from May 1, 2026.
The applicants argue that the restriction is unconstitutional, unlawful, and violates multiple provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023. They are seeking nine reliefs from the court, including declarations that the circular violates Section 37 of the Constitution (which guarantees citizens’ right to privacy), Sections 24(1)(e) and 34(1)(c) of the NDPA, as well as orders nullifying the impugned clause, a perpetual injunction restraining the CBN from enforcing it, and a mandamus compelling the CBN to review and amend the circular.
In a 25-paragraph affidavit sworn by Christopher Yange, a member of the DPLA, the applicants laid out the practical dangers of the restriction. Yange deposed that phone numbers are dynamic by nature subject to loss, theft, recycling, deactivation, and reassignment by telecommunications providers. He stated that telecom operators frequently recycle numbers, making previously assigned numbers available to new users, and attached a Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) news report as evidence of this phenomenon.
The affidavit argued that if a customer’s phone number becomes compromised, lost, or reassigned after using their single permitted update, they would be permanently unable to correct or update the information linked to their BVN. This, the applicants contend, would expose bank customers to identity theft, unauthorized access to financial data, and interception of sensitive banking alerts, OTPs, and authentication codes by third parties.
In a detailed written address spanning over 12 pages, the applicants’ counsel Olumide Babalola, Esq., Emmanuel Okpara, Esq., and Frank Ijege, Esq. of Olumide Babalola LP — framed the case around three core legal issues.
On the first issue, the lawyers argued that a BVN-linked phone number is not ordinary administrative metadata but a core channel of financial communication used for authentication codes, security OTPs, and transaction alerts. They relied on several judicial authorities, including the Court of Appeal’s decision in Digital Rights Lawyers Initiative v National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) (2021), which held that the constitutional right to privacy extends to the protection of personal information and personal data. They also cited Omotayo v Airtel Networks (2025), where the Court of Appeal emphasized that confidentiality of call data falls within constitutional protection of telephone communications.
On the second issue whether the restriction violates the right to data rectification under Section 34(1)(c) of the NDPA — the applicants argued that the NDPA grants every data subject an unqualified right to obtain correction or deletion of inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, or misleading personal data. They submitted that a one-time amendment limit effectively gives the data controller (the CBN) a permanent veto over rectification, which is inconsistent with the plain statutory text. They cited the High Court of Lagos decision in Rebecca Temitope Bonje v Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (2024), which enforced the right to data accuracy and rectification under the NDPA.
On the third issue whether the restriction is arbitrary and disproportionate — the lawyers argued that the one-time limit is an inflexible blanket rule that fails to account for legitimate scenarios such as SIM card loss or damage, change of telecom provider, number recycling, and migration for security reasons. They contended that less intrusive alternatives, such as enhanced identity verification, multi-factor authentication, or temporary suspensions pending security validation, could achieve the CBN’s fraud-prevention objectives without infringing on data subjects’ rights.
The affidavit further alleged that the CBN’s circular was not made in good faith, listing multiple reasons including the absence of a publicly articulated evidential basis or regulatory impact assessment, failure to consult with key stakeholders in the banking, telecommunications, and data protection ecosystem, the lack of a structured exception mechanism for demonstrable cases of error or device loss, and the failure to harmonize the circular with protections under the NDPA.
The first applicant, the Data Privacy Lawyers Association, is a non-governmental, non-partisan, and non-profit organization incorporated under Nigerian law on December 10, 2024 (Registration Number 8127599), with trustees including Olumide Babalola and Etisang-Moses Solomon. The association’s core mandate is to promote, protect, defend, and advance the right to privacy and data protection in Nigeria.
The second applicant, Etisang Solomon, Esq., is a lawyer, privacy professional, and BVN holder who deposed that he is personally affected by the restriction.
The suit seeks a comprehensive set of reliefs: declarations that the circular is unconstitutional and violates the NDPA; an order nullifying clause (c) of the addendum; a perpetual injunction restraining the CBN from enforcing the phone number amendment restriction; a mandamus compelling the CBN to review and amend the circular to conform with the NDPA and constitutional standards on privacy and data accuracy; and an order directing the CBN to establish a flexible, proportionate, and verifiable framework for updating BVN-linked phone numbers.
The case has been filed at the Federal High Court, Kaduna, and is awaiting a hearing date. The applicants’ counsel is based at Aggey House, 12 Berkeley Street, Lagos Island, with a local address within jurisdiction at Springfield Law Practice, Suite 29, A9, Junction Road, Kaduna.
The CBN, listed as the sole respondent, is to be served at No. 3 Yakubu Gowon Way, Kaduna, Kaduna State, Nigeria.
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