President Bola Tinubu has instructed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend the implementation of the 0.5 percent cybersecurity levy.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed on Tuesday that the presidential directive was issued in response to widespread public disapproval of the policy.
Minister Idris stated that President Tinubu had ordered the CBN to temporarily halt the enforcement of the cybersecurity levy and review its application methods.
Senator Shehu Umar Buba, Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, previously clarified that the cybersecurity levy was not intended to target individuals or bank customers.
Speaking to Economic Confidential, Senator Buba, who sponsored the amendment bill, explained that the levy targets financial institutions and telecommunications companies—the sectors most vulnerable to financial crimes and cyber fraud—to enhance cybersecurity measures and national security in the country.
He emphasized that the relevant section of the Cybercrime Act explicitly outlines the businesses responsible for paying the levy, not ordinary citizens.
“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: telecommunications companies, Internet Service Providers, Banks, Insurance Companies, the Nigerian Stock Exchange, and other Financial Institutions,” he said.
“The organisations in these 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 clarified 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.
