Mahdi Shehu, a prominent social critic has described the cybersecurity levy imposed by the Central bank of Nigeria, CBN, bank customers in the country as a robbery.
Shehu made the remark on his X handle on Wednesday, describing the levy as “pure sadism and “digital robbery” by the federal government.
The Source magazine reported that the CBN had directed commercial banks in the country to deduct 0.5 percent from any transactions made by customers.
The proceed, according to the apex bank would be domiciled in the Office of the National Security Adviser, NSA, in line with the enabling Act the government-controlled bank said in a circular to financial institutions on Tuesday.
The implementation of the directive also takes effect from May 20, the Yemi Cardoso led ban k said.
The issue has generated a serious condemnation from not a few Nigerians, who said the decision should be reversed immediately.
Reacting Mahdi claimed that N3 trillion is expected to be realized from the cybersecurity fee, adding that more hardship are being imposed on Nigerians by the Tinubu’s administration.