The Presidential candidate of the labour party, Peter Obi, has knocked President Bola Tinubu’s administration for imposing a ”Cyber-Security Levy’ on Nigerians despite prevailing economic hardship.
This was disclosed by the former governor of Anambra state via a post on his official X handle on Wednesday
Obi asked when the office of the National Security Adviser became a revenue-generating agency, accusing the government of milking a dying economy instead of nurturing it to recovery and growth.
According to Obi, the introduction of the levy is “multiple taxation” he argued that the government should reduce taxes instead of increasing the burden on Nigerians.
Obi underlined that the Tinubu-led government is implementing policies that not only undermine citizens but also reduce the competitiveness of the country’s economy.
In the tweet, Obi said “The introduction of yet another tax, in the form of Cyber-Security Levy, on Nigerians who are already suffering severe economic distress is further proof that the government is more interested in milking a dying economy instead of nurturing it to recovery and growth.
“This does not only amount to multiple taxation on banking transactions, which are already subject to various other taxes including stamp duties but negates the government’s avowed commitment to reduce the number of taxes and streamline the tax system.
“The imposition of a Cyber-Security Levy on bank transactions is particularly sad given that the tax is on the trading capital of businesses and not on their profit hence will further erode whatever is left of their remaining capital, after the impact of the Naira devaluation and high inflation rate.
“It’s inconceivable to expect the suffering citizens of Nigeria to separately fund all activities of the government. Policies such as this not only impoverish the citizens but make the country’s economic environment less competitive.
“At a time when the government should be reducing taxes to curb inflation, the government is instead introducing new taxes. And when did the office of the NSA become a revenue-collecting centre?
“And why should that purely national security office receive returns on a specific tax as stated in the new Cyber-Security law?” Obi added.
Recall that the CBN had in a circular signed by the director of payments system management, Chibuzor Efobi, and the director of financial policy and regulation, Haruna Mustafa directed the banks in the country to start charging a 0.5 per cent cybersecurity levy on electronic transfers.
