“For Your Own Good”: Reno Omokri Explains Benefits of 0.5% Cybersecurity Levy on Bank Transactions
- Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has explained the benefits of the 0.5% cybersecurity levy on all bank transactions
- The 50-year-old Omokri said the newly implemented cybersecurity levy is for the good of Nigeria
- Omokri said the naira cannot be stable if the nation’s cybersecurity is vulnerable, and Nigerians' purchasing power will reduce drastically
Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 5 years of experience covering metro and government policy
FCT, Abuja - Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri said the newly implemented cybersecurity levy on all transactions in commercial banks is for the good of Nigeria.
Omokri said cybersecurity architecture is porous, which was why Binance was able to siphon $25 billion out of Nigeria in one year.
Source: UGC
Why cybersecurity levy is for Nigerians' good
He said naira cannot be stable if the nation’s cybersecurity is vulnerable and the purchasing power of Nigerians would reduce drastically.
He stated this via his X handle (formerly known as Twitter) @renoomokri, on Tuesday, May 7.
“The reason why Binance was able to siphon $25 billion, which represents 6% of our GDP, out of Nigeria in just one year is because our cybersecurity architecture is porous. And as long as it is vulnerable, the Naira cannot be stable. And if the Naira is not stable, your purchasing power as a Nigerian will reduce DRASTICALLY.
“Therefore, it is more profitable for you to pay a 0.5% cybersecurity levy and secure the Naira from all threats, foreign and domestic, than for you to resist the policy, and the Naira goes into free fall.”
He added that If Binance had not been found out Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (the sum of all the wealth in Nigeria) would have dropped further by 6.5%.
“Now, If Nigeria's GDP tanks by 6.5% at a go, global rating agencies like Fitch, Moody's, Standard and Poor, and others that have recently upgraded our economy to a B Positive, would downgrade us. Once we get downgraded, international investors will not want to invest their money in Nigeria, and the demand for made-in-Nigital goods and services will fall, meaning that the exchange rate will go down.”
He dismissed the fear that the policy would reduce financial inclusion in the country.
“But in all honesty, people are more likely to bank their money if they know that Nigeria's cyberspace is safe from cybercriminals and the Dark Web than if they feel that our regulatory regimes are weak.”
Sowore reacts to 0.5% cybersecurity levy
Legit.ng earlier reported that Omoyele Sowore reacted to the direction given by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for commercial banks to impose a 0.5% cybersecurity levy on all transactions.
The 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) accused the CBN of using the newly amended Cybercrimes Prohibition Act of 2015 to rob Nigerians.
Sowore said the story was the same with the Nigeria Police Force who caged journalists in the country with the Cybercrimes Prohibition Act
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Source: Legit.ng
