Connect with us

News

CBN reintroduces controversial Cybersecurity Levy

Published

on

Breaking: CBN raises interest rate to 27.50%
• CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso
Spread the love
•Slashes tax to 0.005% from 0.5% on all electronic transactionsThe Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it will continue to enforce payment of the mandatory levy on all electronic transactions by banks and other financial institutions. This comes nearly four months after the decision suffered a major backlash when it was initially announced in May.

CBN, however, disclosed that the controversial levy had now been reduced to 0.005 per cent, from the initial 0.5 per cent.

The decisions were contained in the CBN’s Monetary, Credit, Foreign Trade, and Exchange Policy Guidelines for the Fiscal Years 2024-2025.

CBN pointed out that implementation of the levy was in accordance with the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015.

It mandated banks and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) to adhere to the guidelines on the risk-based cybersecurity framework.

Maduka College Advert

The central bank also drew the attention of Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) to an earlier framework on “Issuance of Risk-based Cybersecurity framework and Guidelines for Other Financial Institutions (OFIs)”.

The guidelines specified the minimum cybersecurity baseline to be implemented by banks, OFIs and PSPs, and mandated the appointment of a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) to oversee cybersecurity issues.

Back in May, the central bank had ordered the implementation of 0.5 per cent levy on all electronic transactions value as part of efforts to contain the rising threats of cybercrime in the financial system.

The implementation followed the enactment of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) (amendment) Act 2024 and pursuant to the provisions of Section 44 (2)(a) of the Act, which provided for the rate deduction.

The directive was conveyed in a circular dated May 6, 2024 and addressed to all commercial, merchant, non-interest and payment service banks; other financial institutions, Mobile Money Operators and Payment Service Providers.

The circular was jointly signed by CBN’s Director, Payments System Management Department, Chibuzo Efobi, and Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Haruna Mustafa.

The correspondence also post-dated CBN’s circulars of June 25, 2018 and October 5, 2018 on compliance with the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act 2015.

The CBN explained that the deducted funds were to be remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund (NCF), which shall be administered by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

Accordingly, all banks, Other Financial Institutions and Payments Service Providers were required to implement the new provisions of the Act as directed.

The central bank stated that the levy shall be applied at the point of electronic transfer origination, then deducted and remitted by the financial institution.

The deducted amount shall be reflected in the customer’s account with the narration: “Cybersecurity Levy”.

The circular, however, exempted some transactions from cybercrime levy. They included loan disbursements and repayments; salary payments; intra-account transfers within the same bank or between different banks for the same customer; intra-bank transfers between customers of the same bank, and Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) instructions to their correspondent banks.

Exemption also applied to interbank placements; banks’ transfers to CBN and vice-versa; inter-branch transfers within a bank, cheques clearing and settlements; and Letters of Credits (LCs).

Others included banks’ recapitalisation related funding only bulk funds movement from collection accounts; savings and deposits including transactions involving long-term investments, such as treasury bills, bonds; and commercial papers;  government social welfare programmes transactions, such as pension payments; non-profit and charitable transactions, including donations to registered non- profit organisations or charities; educational institutions transactions, including tuition payments and other transaction involving schools, universities, or other educational institutions.

Transactions involving bank’s internal accounts, such as suspense accounts, clearing accounts, profit and loss accounts, inter-branch accounts, reserve accounts, nostro and vostro accounts, and escrow accounts were also exempted from the levy.

The central bank warned that Section 44 (8) of the Act prescribed that failure to remit the levy constituted an offence liable on conviction to a fine of not less than two per cent of the annual turnover of the defaulting business, among others.

All institutions under the regulatory purview of the CBN were directed to note and comply with the provisions of the Act and the circular.

However, following a major pushback by the Organised Private Sector (OPS), stakeholders and Nigerians at large, CBN, on May 19, announced the withdrawal of the controversial circular on the implementation of 0.5 per cent levy on all electronic transactions value.

The withdrawal was conveyed in a circular dated May 17, 2024 and addressed to all commercial, merchant, non-interest and payment service banks; other financial institutions, Mobile Money Operators and Payment Service Providers. It was also jointly signed by Efobi and Mustafa.

The brief circular read, “The Central Bank of Nigeria circular dated May 6, 2024 (Ref: PSMD/DIR/PUB/LAB/017/004) on the above subject refers.

“Further to this, please, be advised that the above referenced circular is hereby withdrawn. Please, be guided accordingly.”

THISDAY

Faith

RCCG Founder’s Daughter speaks on viral statement criticising church leadership

Published

on

Mrs Akindayomi-Adewale and Pastor Adeboye
Spread the love

Pastor Titilayo Adewale, the daughter of the late Rev. Josiah Olufemi Akindayomi, the founder of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has firmly denied viral media reports claiming she criticized the church’s leadership or demanded public monuments to preserve her father’s legacy.

The viral post claimed Adewale criticised senior RCCG pastors for allegedly sidelining her late father’s legacy

Adewale described the claims as false and urged those circulating them to stop spreading misinformation.

She debunked the circulating stories and clarified her stance in a statement shared on Facebook page on Monday.

She said the statement attributed to her did not originate from her “either implicitly or explicitly,” stressing that her father’s greatest legacy was not tied to buildings or monuments but the lives he transformed.

Maduka College Advert

“For the record, Baba’s image or lack thereof on any edifice on earth is nothing compared to making Heaven and his face being recognized there,” she wrote.

She explained that her father never encouraged the pursuit of material possessions or earthly recognition, recalling that he was reluctant even to own a personal residence because he did not place value on material acquisitions.

“My father consistently believed in building people rather than merely constructing buildings.

“He never believed in acquiring wealth or earthly possessions,” she said, adding that it would be inconsistent to suggest that he desired his name or image to be prominently associated with buildings or institutions.

According to her, the reports were aimed at creating unnecessary controversy and division within the church rather than promoting the memory of its founder.

“In my opinion, this report and similar ones are not about me, my father, or even the leadership of the RCCG. Instead, they are intended to create unnecessary arguments and division.

“Their purpose is to divert attention from the divine work currently being carried out and sow discord among us,” she stated.

She warned those responsible for circulating the reports to desist from what she described as “mischievous acts of misinformation.

Adewale also reaffirmed her support for the leadership of the church, praying for continued wisdom and strength for the General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, and his family.

Continue Reading

Education

Digital Economy Boost: NCC Leases Digital Industrial Park, Learning Centre to Enugu State Gov’t

Published

on

Spread the love

…NCC’s CEO lauds Mbah’s Smart Schools, infrastructural, digital capacity initiatives

In a major boost to President Bola Tinubu’s digital economy agenda, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Enugu State Government, on Tuesday, sealed a strategic 15-year lease of the agency’s Digital Industrial Park and Learning Centre to the Enugu State Government.

The move would see the Enugu State Government take over and optimise the facilities located in the state capital as the Enugu Talent City and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Institute in line with the digital economy drive of the Governor Peter Mbah Administration.

Speaking during the lease agreement signing ceremony at Government House, Enugu, the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, said the arrangement fully aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Tinubu Administration, and its ambition to grow Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy driven by productivity, innovation and private sector growth.

Maida stressed that Mbah had shown a clear agenda to build Enugu State into a digital economic powerhouse through deliberate investment in education, infrastructure, innovation and digital capacity, maintaining that the Mbah Administration was well positioned to advance the objectives for which these facilities were established.

Maduka College Advert

“Our expectation is that this partnership will support Enugu’s ambition to become a leading destination for digital services, artificial intelligence, startup incubation, outsourcing, research and technology-enabled enterprise.

“We also expect these facilities to become spaces where young people acquire relevant skills, entrepreneurs transform ideas into viable businesses and local enterprises connect to opportunities beyond Enugu and Nigeria.

“These facilities were conceived as platforms for innovation, entrepreneurship and human capital development. They were designed to deepen digital skills, support startups, attract investment, create jobs and position Nigeria as a competitive destination for business process outsourcing, knowledge process outsourcing and other technology-enabled services.

“In essence, they were built not merely as physical assets, but as platforms for developing the people and enterprises that will power Nigeria’s digital economy.

“So, for us at the NCC, completing physical infrastructure is only the beginning. Buildings alone do not create innovation. People do. Ideas do. Entrepreneurs do. And partnerships bring all these elements together,” he said.

The NCC boss also commended Governor Mbah’s investment in Smart Green Schools, saying he was building an economy prepared for the future.

“Physical infrastructure is essential to development, but infrastructure alone cannot deliver lasting prosperity. This is what makes the Smart Green Schools initiative significant. It recognises that preparing our children for tomorrow must begin today. Technology-enabled schools, digital learning facilities, robotics and artificial intelligence laboratories demonstrate an understanding that education must evolve alongside technology. That is leadership with the future in mind.

“Investment in education and skills raises productivity, expands economic opportunity and strengthens the ability of individuals and businesses to create value.

“This is even more important today. Artificial Intelligence is reshaping industries. Automation is changing the nature of work. Digital technologies are transforming how governments serve citizens and how businesses operate,” he concluded.

Speaking, Governor Peter Mbah commended President Tinubu for recognising the centrality of the digital economy to the $1 trillion economy he seeks to build, as well as for understanding that much of that growth would come from the states.

He noted that AI would contribute about $20 trillion to the global economy by 2030, saying, “It is not a space you want your young ones to be missing.”

“We also believe that our talents, our brightest talents, should not be exported in person. We believe that they should export their talents outside the country from here, and that is why we see huge benefits in these assets in terms of job creation and opportunities for our young people.

“We are also looking at transforming the Digital Bridge Institute into a world-class AI institute. We will also transform the Digital Industrial Park. If you have followed the news, we have already taken steps, working with some teams from Qatar, to make sure that it becomes a certification centre for AI on the continent.

He said the NCC would not regret its decision to temporarily hand over the facilities to Enugu State.

“I am sure that a few years down the line, we can come back here and be very proud of the decision we made today to activate these assets and to make sure that they are productive,” he concluded.

Earlier in his remarks, the Special Adviser to the Enugu State Governor on Digital Economy and Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs), Arinze Chilo-Ofia, thanked the FG and NCC for the confidence reposed in Enugu State to activate and optimise the two strategic assets and ensure the realisation of the objectives for which they were conceived and built.

Continue Reading

News

₦1.08tn budget for Cooperative College Enugu is another move to defraud Nigerians — Atiku

Published

on

Former VP, Atiku Abubakar
Spread the love

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has described the 2026 Appropriation Act as compromised, following revelations that the Federal Cooperative College, Oji River, Enugu State, was allocated ₦1.08 trillion to execute 2,791 capital projects across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory FCT.

In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the African Democratic Congress ADC presidential candidate commended Tracka for an independent analysis he said exposed one of the most troubling cases of budget distortion under the Tinubu administration.

Atiku said the disclosure undercuts the Presidency’s insistence that painful reforms, higher taxes and heavy borrowing reflect prudent economic management.

“Nothing exposes the hollowness of that claim more than a budget that turns a federal cooperative college into one of Nigeria’s largest project-implementing agencies,” he said.

He argued that the allocation defies logic, public finance principles and the institution’s statutory mandate, questioning how a college established to promote cooperative education became responsible for roads, drainage systems, solar streetlights, markets, football pitches, dialysis centres, ambulances, water schemes, recycling plants, empowerment programmes and thousands of other projects nationwide.

Maduka College Advert

“Who decided that a cooperative college should become one of Nigeria’s biggest ministries by stealth? Under what law was it transformed into the implementing agency for 2,791 projects? Who nominated these projects, who approved them, who will supervise them, and who will be held accountable?” he asked.

The former Vice President said the revelations undermine the administration’s claim of fiscal discipline, accusing the government of running what he called a medieval financial system.
“In a constitutional democracy, however, the treasury belongs to the Nigerian people, not to the President or his cronies,” he said.

He contended that a government demanding sacrifice from citizens while channeling such a large sum through an institution without the capacity to execute it cannot claim to be managing resources prudently.

“A government that plans to spend ₦1.08 trillion through a cooperative college cannot claim to be fighting waste or promoting fiscal discipline. It looks less like governance and more like a blueprint to defraud Nigerians”, he declared.

Continue Reading

Trending

Maduka College Advert