Femi Falana (SAN), a human rights attorney, has said that the newly implemented 0.5 percent cybersecurity levy is not intended for private citizens. Falana stated  on Thursday that the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act 2024's provisions were incorrectly construed in a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) circular dated May 6, 2024.

In addition, he stated, "The CBN ought to apologize to Nigerians for misinterpreting the explicit and unmistakable terms of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act 2024. The federal government announced a 0.5 percent fee on the total value of all electronic transactions, to be paid to the National Cybersecurity Fund, which is managed by the Office of the National Security Adviser, by the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015, modified in 2024.

The Central Bank of Nigeria incorrectly instructed all financial institutions to apply the levy at the point of electronic transfer origination and that the amount is to be explicitly noted in customer accounts under the description "Cybersecurity Levy" and remitted by the financial institution, even though the  0.05 percent is payable by the businesses listed in the second schedule to the principal Act.

 "The incorrect understanding may have resulted from the amendment's replacement of "business" with "companies."For the avoidance of doubt, the following companies must pay the levy: GSM service providers and all telecommunications companies; Internet service providers; banks and other financial institutions; insurance companies; and the Nigerian Stock Exchange. This is due to section 42(a) of the Cybercrime Act 2025 as amended.