Cybersecurity Levy: TUC threatens to lead nationwide protest

By Michael Oche

Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has threatened to mobilize Nigerians on a nationwide strike that would culminate into a total shutdown of the Nigerian economy, should the Federal Government refuse to immediately reverse the newly introduced Cybersecurity Levy.

TUC in a statement by its President, Comrade Festus Osifo described the Levy as exploitative, accusing the government of imposing hardship on Nigerians through its policies.

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

The recent directive by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in a circular to banks imposing a 0.5 percent cybersecurity levy on almost all electronic transactions, has attracted criticism from many quarters.

“We call on the federal government to give a marching order to the Central Bank of Nigeria to immediately withdraw the circular and cancel the plan levy forthwith; failure of which we will be left with no option than to mobilize all our members, stakeholders and indeed the entire masses to embark on immediate protest that would culminate into total shutdown of the Nigerian economy as this is one exploitation too many,” Osifo said on Wednesday.

The TUC president said so many policies of the current administration of President Bola Tinubu are not only imposing hardship on the downtrodden Nigerians but also on businesses, as some of them are shutting down because of the unfriendly business environment.

He said, “We are quite disturbed that since the inception of this administration, its policies have brought pain, anguish, and sorrow on 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 government and the banks; this burden seems not to be enough as government is poised to inflict further pain on the already battered Nigerians.

“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 2 trillion Naira; what kind of cybercrime are we fighting with this humongous amount of money? This ugly development will further encourage people to hoard cash at home, reduce financial inclusion, increase poverty and exacerbate misery index.

“The cost of living is at an all-time high, food inflation is biting, all contributing to the miserability of Nigerians. This act is viewed as a deliberate plot to continue to drain Nigerians of their hard-earned money, and we kick against this vehemently.”

Osifo said the National Assembly that ought to be the bastion of democracy and the protector of the citizens have failed in their responsibilities and often times engages in collusion with elements within the executive to exploit the people.

“How can such obnoxious law see the light of day in a truly people oriented legislative house. This is indeed a conspiracy of the oppressors against the masses and citizens of this country, and it must be resisted by all well-meaning Nigerians,” he said.

According to him, “Nigerians are interested in right now is the urgent conclusion of discussions around the minimum wage and not a vexatious policy that is further reducing the already depleted disposable income of the masses and indirectly ridiculing the gain which the minimum wage would have brought to the people when concluded.”