ASHENEWS reports that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the suspension of the cybersecurity levy.
This development was made known by the Minister for Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris.
The minister who made this known in a post he made on social media platform, X on Monday night said that the levy will be reviewed.
“The position of the Federal Government, from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting of yesterday and today, is that the cybersecurity levy has been suspended. It will undergo a review,” the minister’s tweet said.
Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directed deposit banks in Nigeria to start charging a 0.5% cybersecurity levy on transactions.
The apex bank gave the directive on the cybersecurity levy in a circular dated May 6, 2024, to all commercial, merchant, non-interest and payment service banks as well as mobile money operators and payment service providers.
“Following the enactment of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) (amendment) Act 2024 and pursuant to the provision of Section 44 (2) (a) of the Act, ‘a levy of 0.5% (0.005) equivalent to a half percent 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),” the circular partly read.
Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks. These cyberattacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information; extorting money from users via ransomware; or interrupting normal business processes.
