TUC President Threatens To Shutdown Economy Over Cybersecurity Levy

Festus Osifo, the President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), has rejected the cybersecurity levy (CSL) imposed on Nigerians by the federal government.

Osifo, in Abuja on Wednesday, said that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) directive to banks imposing a 0.5 per cent cybersecurity levy on almost all electronic transactions was “ a conspiracy of the oppressors against the masses and citizens of this country and it must be resisted by all well-meaning Nigerians”.

Earlier it was reported that the 0.5 per cent levy implementation will commence on May 20, 2024.

He said, “How can such obnoxious law see the light of day in a truly people-oriented legislative house.

“It is indeed illogical that this is coming at a time that Nigerians are grappling with the high cost of living that is imposed by the devaluation of Naira, hyper hike in the cost of petrol, supersonic increment in the cost of electricity tariff, etc.

“We are quite disturbed that since the inception of this administration, its policies have brought pain, anguish and sorrow to Nigerians. Whereas a bank account holder in Nigeria today is currently charged stamp duty, transfer fee, VAT on transfer fee, and all forms of account maintenance levies by both the government and the banks.

“So many policies of this government are not only imposing hardship on the downtrodden Nigerians but also businesses, as some of them are shutting down because of the unfriendly business environment.

“Financial analysts have done a preliminary estimate using the 2023 online transfer volume in Nigeria that fell within these categories and put the value at over N2trn; what kind of cybercrime are we fighting with this humongous amount of money?

“This burden seems not to be enough as the government is poised to inflict further pain on the already battered Nigerians”.

Osifo urged the federal government to issue a marching order to the CBN to immediately withdraw the circular and cancel the plan levy forthwith.

The TUC boss warned of a nationwide protest that will immediately cripple economic activities.

In his words, “failure to withdraw, we will be left with no option than to mobilize all our members, stakeholders and indeed the entire masses to embark on the immediate protest that would culminate into the total shutdown of the Nigerian economy as this is one exploitation too many”.