The Federal Government on Tuesday confirmed the suspension of the implementation of the cybersecurity levy, the imposition of which was recently announced.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris disclosed this after the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
He stated that the 0.5 per cent levy on electronic transactions has been put on hold to enable the government to review it.
He affirmed that the federal government did not want Nigerians to be overburdened at a time when things are already difficult.
“The President is not insensitive to the feelings of Nigerians, and it was agreed that the policy be suspended while we work out a review of modalities for its implementation,” the minister added.
Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had imposed a 0.5 per cent Cybersecurity Levy (CSL) on all electronic transfers effective May 20, 2024.
The apex bank said the directive issued to the commercial, merchant, non-interest and payment service banks, as well as mobile money operators, was not debatable.
NewsNGR earlier quoted the CBN saying, “A levy of 0.5 per cent equivalent to a half per cent of all electronic transactions value by the business specified in the second schedule of the Act, is to be remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund (NCF), which shall be administered by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
“Deductions shall commence within two weeks from the date of this circular for all financial institutions and the monthly remittance of the levies collected in bulk to the NCF account domiciled at the CBN by the 5th business day of every subsequent month.”