The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has withdrawn its circular to banks and payment service providers to collect and remit the cybersecurity levy proposed in the Cybercrime Prevention and Prohibition Amendment Act of 2024.
This was announced in a revised circular dated 17 May, which was released by the CBN on Monday. The circular was signed by Chibuzor Efobi, Director of Payment Systems Management, and Haruna Mustafa, Director of Financial Policy and Regulation.
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Addressed to commercial banks, payment service providers, non-interest banks, and others, stated that the previous directive had been withdrawn.
The withdrawal follows the decision of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its last meeting to suspend the levy, which has generated public outcry.
“The position of the government is that the policy has been suspended. It has been put on hold. That is the position of the government for now. It is undergoing some form of review.
“So, I can tell you that the cybersecurity levy has been put on hold. It is being reviewed by the government,” the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said after the meeting.
The CBN had earlier issued a circular to various financial institutions, including commercial, merchant, non-interest, and payment service banks, indicating that the levy would come into effect two weeks from 6 May.
“The levy shall be applied at the point of electronic transfer origination, then deducted and remitted by the financial institution. The deducted amount shall be reflected in the customer’s account with the narration, ‘Cybersecurity Levy’.
“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 fifth business day of every subsequent month,” the directive read in part.
The directive sparked a nationwide outcry from Nigerians, who expressed their dissatisfaction and highlighted that banking transactions are becoming increasingly costly due to numerous charges.