Chairman, Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Senator Shehu Umar Buba, on Sunday, May 12, explained that the recently introduced cybersecurity levy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is not targeted at individuals or bank customers.
Buba representing Bauchi South on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), sponsored the amendment to the Cybercrime Act.
According to a statement in Abuja, Buba said the levy would be charged on only financial institutions and telecom companies.
He said this has become necessary because the finance and telecoms sectors are the most vulnerable to financial crimes and cyber fraud and also to enhance cybersecurity measures and national security in the country.
He noted that the amended section of the Cybercrime Act is very clear about the businesses that are required to pay the levy, not the citizens.
The statement reads in part: “The Act is very explicit about who is responsible for the payment, not Nigerian citizens or individuals. The relevant Section of the Cybercrime Act 2015 listed the businesses required to pay the levy.
“They include telecommunications companies, Internet Service Providers, Banks, Insurance Companies, the Nigerian Stock Exchange, and other Financial Institutions.
“The organisations in the sectors have been listed in previous circulars by the Central Bank of Nigeria, especially in 2018. The new circular by the CBN further provided many exemptions.”
Senator Buba also clearly explained the amount payable as a cybersecurity levy.
“It is either 0.005 or 0.5% arithmetically. The figure in the Principal Act was 0.005 as a fraction, which was converted to the percentage that became 0.5% in the amendment. Therefore, the statistics in fractions and percentages are the same,” he said.
The noted that the passage of the amendment bill was a collaborative effort of various stakeholders.
“The passage of the amendment bill was a collaborative effort involving the government, industry players, civil society, and academia in the contributions and active participation in the public hearing before and endorsement by the two chambers of the National Assembly.
“After rigorous processes, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the Bill into law in February 2024,” he said.
He noted the outcry of Nigerians, civil society groups, and other stakeholders about the current economic situation but reassured that implementing the cybersecurity law was not meant to punish citizens.
He stressed that the levy is a collective effort to protect national security and the economy, with the financial burden primarily falling on the specified businesses.
Recall that the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc Amendment) Act 2024, which President Tinubu signed into law in February, imposes a 0.5 percent (0.005) levy equivalent to half the value of all electronic transactions by the businesses specified in the Second Schedule of the Act.
The levy will be remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund, which the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) shall administer.
The circular announcing the levy also exempted some transactions from the cybercrime levy, including loan disbursements and repayments, salary payments, intra-account transfers, and other financial transactions.