The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has officially withdrawn the directive earlier given to banks to enact the process of deduction of cyber security levy to be administered by the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA). Honourable Chinda had drawn the attention of the House to multiple interpretations of the CBN directive against the specifications in the Cybersecurity Act. The House then expressed worry that the Act would be implemented in error if immediate steps were not taken, to address the concerns around the interpretation of the CBN directive and the Cybersecurity Act. The CBN on the 6th of May, 2024, issued a circular mandating all banks, mobile money operators, and payment service providers, to implement a new cybersecurity levy, following the provisions laid out in the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) The deducted amount was to be explicitly noted in customer accounts under the descriptor “Cybersecurity Levy” and remitted by the financial institution.

Source: Nigerian Tribune May 20, 2024 12:14 UTC