Why we ordered CBN to withdraw circular on cybersecurity levy – Reps | Read Details
Members of the House of Representatives on Thursday asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to withdraw the circular directing financial institutions to charge 0.5% cybersecurity levy from all electronic transactions.
This was after a motion on the urgent need to halt and modify the implementation of the cybersecurity levy was moved by the House minority leader, honourable Kingsley Chinda (PDP) and 359 others.
According to the Green House, the CBN is to withdraw the initial circular, and “issue a more understandable one” as the former is ambiguous.
The Green Chamber also mandated its Committees on Banking Regulations, and Banking and other Ancillary Institutions to guide the CBN properly.
Honourable Chinda had drawn the attention of the House to multiple interpretations of the CBN directive against the specifications in the Cybersecurity Act.
The House then expressed worry, that the Act would be implemented in error if immediate steps were not taken, to address the concerns around the interpretation of the CBN directive and the Cybersecurity Act.
The CBN on the 6th of May, 2024, issued a circular mandating all banks, mobile money operators, and payment service providers, to implement a new cybersecurity levy, following the provisions laid out in the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act 2024 (“the Act”).
According to the Act, a levy amounting to 0.5 per cent of the value of all electronic transactions, will be collected and remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund (NCF), overseen by the Office of the National Security Adviser.
