Cybersecurity Tax ‘ll Kill Our ‘Dying Economy,’ Tinubu Turning NSA to Revenue Agency-Obi
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi has decried the introduction of yet another tax by the federal government, describing the new cybersecurity tax as a move aimed at finishing off Nigeria’s “dying economy.”
Obi in a statement on Wednesday also said that it seemed the President Bola Tinubu’s government has converted the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) to revenue generating agency.
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State stated that the new tax will further shrink the capital of business people and stifle the economy as well as the purchasing power of already stressed out Nigerians,
The statement published on his X handle reads:
“The introduction of yet another tax, in the form of Cybersecurity Levy, on Nigerians who are already suffering severe economic distress is further proof that the government is more interested in milking a dying economy instead of nurturing it to recovery and growth.
“This does not only amount to multiple taxation 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?
“And why should that purely national security office receive returns on a specific tax as stated in the new cybersecurity law?”