‘Government of trial & error’: Reactions trail suspension of cybersecurity levy

The suspension of the cybersecurity levy by the President Bola Tinubu-led government has garnered mixed reactions from Nigerians.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in a circular obtained by TRIBUNE ONLINE, withdrawn its circular mandating banks and payment service providers to collect and remit the cybersecurity levy as proposed in the Cybercrime Prevention and Prohibition Amendment Act of 2024.

The apex bank, it was gathered, stated this in a revised circular dated May 17, 2024, signed by its Director of Payment Systems Management, Chibuzor Efobi, and Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Haruna Mustafa, and addressed to commercial banks, PSPs, non-interest banks, and others.

Background

Recall, on May 6, 2024, the CBN through a circular ordered commercial banks, Payment Service Providers, and others to begin collection and remittance of 0.5% of the transaction cost of electronic transactions as cybersecurity levy in line with the provisions of the amended 2024 cybercrimes prohibition and prevention act.  

In response to the criticisms and complaints of Nigerians, the federal government through the Minister of Information announced the suspension of the levy pending some form of review in the future. The federal House of Representatives also called for the suspension of the levy even though they passed the amendment act that introduced it.  

Social media reacts

Critics, especially the opposition on social media, have criticised the APC-led administration, describing the suspension as “a government of trial and error.”

Read some tweets extracted from X below: