Peter Obi and Tinubu
Published By: Isa Isawade
Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has condemned President Bola Tinubu and his administration for imposing the cybersecurity levy on Nigerians.
Obi launched the attack on Wednesday in a series of posts on his X handle.
According to him, the Tinubu Administration is only interested in milking a dying economy instead of nurturing it to recovery and growth.
There has been an outrage over a 0.5 per cent levy on bank transactions by customers, with few exceptions, to be managed by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) as enshrined in the Cybersecurity Act.
He accused the government of introducing policies toward impoverishing the citizens.
He also wondered when the ONSA became a revenue-collecting centre.
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According to him, the introduction of yet another tax, in the form of Cybersecurity Levy, on Nigerians who are already suffering severe economic distress is a proof that the government is more interested in milking a dying economy instead of nurturing it to recovery and growth.
This, he said, did not only amount to multiple taxations on banking transactions, which are already subject to various other taxes including stamp duties but negates the government’s avowed commitment to reduce the number of taxes and streamline the tax system.
“The imposition of a Cybersecurity Levy on bank transactions is particularly sad given that the tax is on the trading capital of businesses and not on their profit hence will further erode whatever is left of their remaining capital, after the impact of the Naira devaluation and high inflation rate.
“It is inconceivable to expect the suffering citizens of Nigeria to separately fund all activities of the government. Policies such as this not only impoverish the citizens but make the country’s economic environment less competitive.
“At a time when the government should be reducing taxes to curb inflation, the government is instead introducing new taxes. And when did the office of the NSA become a revenue-collecting centre?” Obi asked.