By Tony Obiechina, Abuja

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Federal Government to reverse the 0.5 per cent cybersecurity levy imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).This is just as Uche Uwaleke, a capital market Professor said the cybersecurity levy is ill-timed, and coming at a time when the CBN is concerned about the high rate of financial exclusion and the increasing rate of currency circulating outside the banks.

SERAP threatened to take legal action against the government if it failed to reverse the levy within the timeframe.SERAP stated this Tuesday via its X handle, calling for the immediate reversal of what it regarded as levy ‘imposition.’It said, “The Tinubu administration must immediately withdraw the grossly unlawful CBN directive to implement section 44 of the Cybercrime Act 2024, which imposes a 0.5% ‘cybersecurity levy’ on Nigerians.“We’ll see in court if the directive is not withdrawn within 48 hours.”The CBN had ordered banks operating in the country to start charging a cybersecurity levy on transactions.A circular from the apex bank on Monday disclosed that the implementation of the levy would start two weeks from then.The circular was directed to all commercial, merchant, non-interest and payment service banks, among others.The circular revealed that it was a follow-up on an earlier letter dated June 25, 2018 (Ref: BPS/DIR/GEN/CIR/05/008) and October 5, 2018 (Ref: BSD/DIR/GEN/LAB/11/023), respectively, on compliance with the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act 2015.Reacting to the development, Prof Uwaleke said, “I think the cybersecurity levy is ill-timed, coming at a time when the CBN is concerned about the high rate of financial exclusion and the increasing rate of currency circulating outside the banks.”It carries the downside risk of discouraging financial intermediation as well as complicating the transmission of monetary policy with more people shunning the banks due to high charges. The end result is that it makes a difficult effort by the CBN to tame inflation.”So, I think the circular should be withdrawn especially against the backdrop of assurances by the government that its plan to increase revenue would not include introducing new taxes or increasing tax rates.”To this end, the government should suspend the policy while getting set to implement the recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms whose mandate includes streamlining multiple taxes and levies currently inhibiting the growth of businesses in Nigeria.”

CBN Governor,  Yemi Cardoso A financial expert, Prof. Uche Uwaleke says the newly introduced 0.5 per cent charges on electronic transactions as cybersecurity levy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is ill-timed.

Uwaleke, a professor of capital market and the president of the Capital Market Academics of Nigeria, said this in an interview on Tuesday in Abuja.

According to him, the cybersecurity levy is ill-timed, coming at a time when the CBN is concerned about the high rate of financial exclusion and the increasing rate of currency circulating outside the banks.

He said that it carried the downside risk of discouraging financial intermediation as well as complicating the transmission of monetary policy with more people shunning the banks due to high charges.

“The end result is that it makes difficult effort by the CBN to tame inflation.

“So, I think the circular should be withdrawn, especially against the backdrop of assurances by the government that its plan to increase revenue would not include introducing new taxes or increasing tax rates.

“To this end, the government should suspend the policy while getting set to implement the recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms,” he said.

He said that the mandate of the committee included streamlining multiple taxes and levies currently inhibiting the growth of businesses in Nigeria.

NAN reports that the CBN had on Monday directed all banks to commence charging a 0.5 per cent cybersecurity levy on all electronic transactions within the country.

The direcve was contained in a circular jointly signed by the Director, Payments System Management Department, Chibuzo Efobi; and the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Haruna Mustafa.

The circular was directed to all commercial banks, merchant banks, non-interest banks, and payment service banks.

It announced that the implementation of the levy would start two weeks from May 6.

“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 said.

However, some 16 banking transactions were exempted from the new cybersecurity levy.

They include 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 among others.

By the calculations of the new levy, five Naira will be charged on a transaction of N1,000, while N50 will be charged on a transaction of N10,000.

Others are N500 charge on a transaction of N100,000, N5,000 charge on a transaction of N1,000,000, and N50,000 charge on a transaction of N10,000,000.

The cybersecurity levy will now be added to already existing bank charges like transfer fee, stamp duty, charges on SMS, and Vat .(NAN)

From Anthony Nwachukwu, Lagos

Operators of the APM Terminal Apapa have cried out to regulatory authorities as no fewer than 616 export containers have been abandoned inside the terminal for about 1000 days, causing both space constraint and economic losses.Disclosing the company’s plight to the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mr.

Pius Akutah, the Terminal Manager, Mr. Steen Knudsen, said the terminal derives value from export cargoes they are shipped out within the best possible time.However, “as we speak, we have 616 export-laden containers that have spent between 31 and 1000 days inside our terminal. This impacts our ability to receive more export containers because we have to do multiple re-handling of these export containers,” he stated.To end the ugly trend, Akutah said he would meet with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) “and other relevant stakeholders to see how we can stop this abandoning of export boxes inside the port. In this period when the government is looking at improving the nation’s export potential, all hands must be on deck.”Knudson had explained that the company derives value from export operations only “when export cargoes arrive and are shipped out of the terminal by the shipping companies within the shortest period, not where export boxes arrive and just sit here inside the port for years.”Lamenting the lack of strict compliance with the process, Knudsen stated that the NPA has established Export Processing Terminals (EPTs) to handle export goods.However, “we still see trucks carrying export cargoes heading straight to the port without going through these EPTs. That’s why many of them get into the port and get abandoned because they have not gone through the normal process before entering the port.“These export containers might not end up leaving the port because they have spent close to three years inside the port. Most of their contents would have lost value.”He further explained that export cargoes that by-passed the EPTs were not turned back because “once a truck bringing in an export container arrives at our gate, it is difficult to turn such a container back due to our location.“It is when the container gets into the port and the various government agencies run necessary checks that it is discovered to have not gone through the right processes. At this point, it is left inside the port.“What we have been able to do now is to extend that checking area up to the NPA Gate so that any truck coming in with an export container without going through the normal process can be turned back from that point.”He regretted that the absence of a laid-down auction process for export containers by the Nigeria Customs Service has led to some abandoned containers lying in the port for about three years.