..says cybercrime law needs upgrade owing to ambiguity
In the wake of widespread criticisms of the cybersecurity levy, the Senate Chief Whip, Senator Ali Ndume has praised President Bola Tinubu for listening to the people and halting its implementation.
The Nation reported that the president ordered a review of the controversial cybersecurity levy and suspended its implementation.
The decision to suspend the implementation of 0.5 percent cybersecurity levy on electronic transactions, it said was taken on Thursday following the outrage that greeted the announcement contained in a circular by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to banks on Tuesday.
During an interview on Sunday, May 12, on Arise News’ “The Morning Show” programme, the Senator highlighted certain ambiguities in the cybercrime law that needed to be addressed.
Ndume explained that upon taking office, the Tinubu-led administration commenced work to promptly tackle the issue of cybercrime which he argued was a stain on the country’s reputation.
He said: “It’s good that the president has now acted and we’ll go back to the drawing table to look at the Act again. When this administration came on board, the first issue that needed to be addressed was that of cybercrime. And it’s part of the purpose of government as outlined in Section 14,2 of our constitution. That the purpose of government is the security and welfare of citizens. And cybercrime is part of the security, very important one.
“So that’s why the government was in a hurry to look at the enabling law which was signed in 2015. To strengthen it, give more powers to the institutions charged with that responsibility to ensure efficiency and to address the issue of cybercrime which you know is ravaging the country and spoiling our reputation and name because of the incessant and increased cybercrime going on in Nigeria.”
The Senator made it clear that the current administration did not intend to worsen Nigerians’ circumstances in the face of the challenges plaguing the country.
“But I will add that we were in a hurry and so weren’t able to look at the nitty gritty of the issue until the CBN made that announcement. And also they didn’t look at it very well. And you’ll see the reactions of Nigerians was not good. Of course it is expected, looking at the situation we find ourselves. There are a lot of burdens on the common man and the low-income persons. And it’s not the intent of this government to add another burden on the middle class especially the low-income earners or Nigerians in general.”
Ndume reiterated his commendation for the president’s swift move while urging Nigerians to support the government’s need for critical reforms to the cybercrime laws.
“So, I still want to commend the President for that and as I said, I was expecting him to do that. But I also want to urge Nigerians to agree with this government that this cybercrime issue, the laws need to be critically upgraded,” the Senate Chief Whip added.
