The Nigeria Labour Congress refused the recently introduced cybersecurity levy by the Central Bank of Nigeria and asked for it to be removed right away.
In a statement, NLC's President, Joe Ajaero, expressed sorrow that the levy is another unfavorable government policy during severe economic difficulty.
The NLC strongly criticized the recent directive by the Central Bank of Nigeria to impose a 0.5 percent 'Cybersecurity Levy' on electronic transfers.
They believe this levy will add more pressure on hardworking Nigerians as it will be deducted from electronic transactions.
The CBN's circular mandates banks and payment service operators to make these deductions within the next two weeks.
This action, seemingly to enhance cybersecurity, could make the financial struggle of the population even worse.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, on Monday, ordered banks operating in the country to start charging a cybersecurity levy on transactions.
A circular from the apex bank disclosed that the implementation of the levy would start two weeks from today.
The circular was directed to all commercial, merchant, non-interest, and payment service banks, among others.
The circular revealed that it was a follow-up on an earlier letter dated June 25, 2018 (Ref: BPS/DIR/GEN/CIR/05/008) and October 5, 2018 (Ref: BSD/DIR/GEN/LAB/11/023), respectively, on compliance with the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act 2015.
