The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has on Tuesday declared its stance against the recently announced cyber security levy on bank customers by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In a statement released by the Director of Publicity and Advocacy to NEF, Abdulazeez Suleiman described the new levy as arbitrary and dehumanizing.
He said the Apex bank was inconsiderate in the implementation of the bill, going by the present situation in the country where people are struggling to feed themselves.
The Northern Elders Forum therefore called on the government to have a second look at the policy and explore alternative measures to ease the financial stress on Nigerians.
It said the introduction of cyber security levies in addition to existing fees such as stamp duty, transfer fees, value added tax, and SMS charges, has put an average Nigerian in an unbearable financial distress, especially those engaging in electronic transactions.
NEF highlighted the various charges to include cyber security levies which goes from N5 on N1000 to N50,000 on N10,000, 000 transactions, transfer fees, stamp duty, and value-added tax.
The Elders Forum though admitted the importance of cyber security in safeguarding transactions, but emphasized that the need for a more balanced approach that ensures the costs of security measures are reasonable and do not excessively burden bank customers.
The NEF noted that in a country already battling with economic challenges and hyper inflammatory conditions, additional financial burden imposed by the cyber security levy would be unjust and unfair.
It hence urged the federal government to reconsider its stand on the new levies.
