Cybersecurity levy: Ex-lawmaker applauds intent, timing, but faults its strategic communication

A former member of the House of Representatives, Aliyu Gebi, has weighed in on the recent directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria requiring banks to start deducting cybersecurity levy on transactions.

Gebi, while speaking on Channels TV Politics today on Tuesday, said the implementation of the ‘Cybersecurity law as amended’ was long overdue.

The ex-lawmaker asserted that the intent and timing of the levy is appropriate, but raised concerns regarding the government’s strategic communication approach.

He said, “Nigeria has been postponing the full implementation of these internationally agreed protocols since 2015. 

“You may recall I was in Parliament then in 2015. I think it was in April or thereabouts, that the Cybercrime Act was passed into law but we could not fully operationalise it because of certain constraints that we were undergoing especially the security challenge and where funds were being directed.

“But here we are today where it is an absolute necessity.

“If we know how much money we are losing, that the banks are losing, that account holders are losing, that the government is losing, because of weak implementation of cyber security protocols, we would pay the government more money to ensure that the government, the NSA implements it.”

According to Gebi, Nigeria is more prone to cyber attacks than any other developing nation in the world considering the size and might of the economy.

He posited that, “There is again no gain in saying the National Security Advisor, as the coordinator of all security agencies in Nigeria, must do the needful.

“Doing this needfully requires funding. Everyone knows Nigeria, at this point, is not earning as much as it should be earning, or could be earning.”

Gebi stated further that, “The intent of the bill is right. The time is ripe. Is the time right for other things? Now this is a question that should be asked but is the time right for us to fully operationalise our CyberSecurity Act and the Cybercrime Act of 2015 as amended? Yes, it is.

“We don’t do a good job of communication. This is our problem. We don’t communicate strategically.

“When the Super Highway in Lagos started again, there was a lot of uproar again because there was no strategic communication. 

“People did not understand what was happening or the value they will get eventually when it happens.

“We do a poor case of strategic communications, I believe the CBN should have communicated this better. 

“I believe consensus should have been built, advocacy, enlightenment, getting people to understand what their money is going to buy them in the short, medium and long term.”

On that note, the ex-lawmaker thereby proffered a solution, saying, “The beauty of participatory democracy is you and I have representatives at the local government at the state level and the Federal level.

“Let those who we have voted in to represent us gauge our temperature and ask for perhaps postponement, deferment or to ask for more explanation.

“What we should be asking for really is about oversight. How is that money going to be spent? Who oversees that money?

“What layers of the cyber security Spectrum will that money be spent on? What is the recourse? If I get perhaps threatened or if I get blackmailed by cybercriminals, how do I get or how do I seek recourse?”

In a related development, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kunle Adegoke said the 0.5 percent cybersecurity levy banks will charge on electronic transfers will increase hardship for the poor Nigerians.

Adegoke, in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, said the poor Nigerians were already complaining on certain charges on their transactions.

He said, “Why I feel the timing is not appropriate is this: the law being implemented by the CBN is the Cybercrime Act of 2015 which was recently amended in 2024. And the provision requiring that 0.5% be levied was contained in the 2015 Act.

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“Now the directive by the CBN that 0.5% to be levied on every electronic transaction emanated from the 2024 amendment act.

“With this position, one feels that the spectrum of society that is going to feel it much more will be the people in the lower rung of the economic ladder, whereas the rich and the elite may not feel it as much considering the amount that may be involved in the transactions to be carried out.

“The poor masses always have issues. They always complain that banks levy certain charges on their transactions.”