• Group kicks, insists policy good for country
President Bola Tinubu has suspended implementation of the 0.5 per cent cybersecurity levy following widespread criticisms.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, announced the suspension after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.
He directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend implementation and review the modalities.
On May 6, the apex bank introduced the levy, mandating all banks, mobile money operators, and payment service providers to begin implementation in two weeks.
The levy was part of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) (Amendment) Act 2024, which imposed a 0.5 per cent fee on the value of all electronic transactions to be collected and remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund, overseen by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
Idris said the levy was thoroughly discussed at the meeting, noting that the President is not insensitive to the feelings of Nigerians.
On May 9, the House of Representatives asked the CBN to withdraw the directive to financial institutions.
The Green Chamber passed the resolution to withdraw the directive during a plenary, following the adoption of a motion sponsored by Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, and 359 others.
“This act has led to apprehension as civil society organisations and citizens have taken to conventional and social media to call out the Federal Government and give ultimatums for a reversal,” Chinda had said.
However, a non-governmental organisation, Nigeria First Project, has asked the government to reinstate the levy.
Addressing journalists in Kano yesterday, the group’s national coordinator, Hamza Umar Saulawa, alleged a deliberate attempt by unscrupulous politicians to change the narrative of the “good-intended cybersecurity levy imposed on identified companies.”
According to him, the imposition of the levy was part of government’s strategy for combating insecurity in the cyberspace and restoring sanity against mounting security threats.
He said: “In the face of growing cybercrime in Nigeria with its attendant consequences on our nation, we find the ongoing hysterical and vicious campaign against the cybersecurity levy incongruent with the desire of many patriotic Nigerians to see that our country’s good image is restored.
“It is obvious that the conversation is being manipulated by a section of vocal elites to look as if the levy is imposed to punish the masses. This is happening despite the clarification made by the Chairman, Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Senator Shehu Umar Buba. We feel that this kind of debate in which many take an end is not helpful at all.”
