NIGERIAN President Bola Tinubu has officially suspended the 0.5 per cent cybersecurity levy on electronic banking transactions.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this on Tuesday, May 14, after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting that lasted for two days.

He told journalists that the cybersecurity levy was discussed at the FEC meeting and after critical deliberation it was resolved the levy be suspended for now pending a review.

He expressed that the President was not insensitive to the feelings of Nigerians.

The cybersecurity levy is part of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) (Amendment) Act 2024, which approved that 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, overseen by the Office of the National Security Adviser.

However, the government gave 16 forms of transactions that would be exempted from the charge.

“The matter was discussed at the meeting of FEC” adding that “ 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,” Idris added.

The ICIR reported on May 8 that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directed banks and other financial institutions to implement a 0.5 per cent cybersecurity levy on all electronic transfers.

The order was contained in a circular signed by Chibuzor Efobi, director of payments system management and director of financial policy and regulation, Haruna Mustafa, on Monday, May 6.

However, the controversial levy has sparked criticism among stakeholders as enforcing it would have worsened the hardships on Nigerians who are already overburdened by various taxes.

At its plenary session on Thursday, May 9, the House of Representatives disagreed with the apex bank on the levy and asked it to withdraw its order.

Other concerned Nigerians including BudgIT and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) had sued the apex bank over the planned implementation of the levy.

If the proposed cybersecurity levy had scaled through, an analysis by The ICIR shows that Nigerians would have been charge ₦5 on every ₦1,000 transferred; ₦50 on every ₦10,000; ₦500 on every ₦100,000; ₦5,000 on every ₦1,000,000; ₦50,000 on every ₦10,000,000; and ₦500,000 on every ₦100,000,000, and in would continue in that regard.