Femi Falana, SAN, has said that the recently imposed 0.5 per cent cybersecurity levy is not meant for individuals.

Femi Falana

Falana made this known in a statement, saying the circular of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), wrongly interpreted the provisions of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act 2024.

According to the senior lawyer, “The CBN should also apologise to Nigerians for the misleading interpretation of the unambiguous provisions of Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act 2024,”.

Public outcry has greeted the introduction of 0.5 per cent levy on the value of all electronic transactions, by the federal government

According to the announcement, the levy was to be remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund, overseen by the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA).

Falana said though the said levy is payable by the businesses listed in the second schedule to the principal Act, the CBN wrongly directed all financial institutions to apply the levy at the point of electronic transfer origination.

“The erroneous interpretation might have arisen from the substitution of ‘businesses’ for ‘business’ in the amendment.

For the avoidance of doubt, by Section 42(a) of the Cybercrime Act 2025 as amended, the businesses which are required to pay the levy are GSM service providers and all telecommunications companies; Internet service providers; banks and other financial institutions; insurance companies; and the Nigerian Stock Exchange,” Falana said.

Wema Bank has launched CoopHub, a new digital solution for Cooperative Societies at a ceremony held on Friday, to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the bank.

CoopHub, the first of its kind in the Nigerian banking industry, is a digital platform designed strategically to transform the way Cooperative Societies operate by providing tailored solutions that bridge the gaps in the traditional framework of Cooperative Societies.

The unique platform insulates Cooperative Societies against prevalent struggles like manual recordkeeping, limited access to loans, poor communication, insecurity, and other restrictions, supporting them with the solutions needed to not only mitigate these problems but also operate with the utmost efficiency.

With CoopHub, leaders of Cooperative Societies can manage every aspect of their community’s operations from a simplified dashboard accessible on their phones, seamlessly managing their Cooperative Society’s finances, communication, member records, analytics and every other detail in real time and on the go.

Members of the Cooperative Societies also enjoy increased access to loans, seamless contribution tracking, secure transactions, and easy communication with the leaders.

Essentially, CoopHub helps Cooperative Societies maintain 100% transparency, reliability, and security, with the option of white labelling for a customised experience.

Disclosing the Bank’s motive for creating CoopHub, Moruf Oseni, Wema Bank’s MD/CEO, highlighted the Bank’s commitment to innovation and customer-centricity.

“Cooperative Societies have many pain points. As a bank that is committed to empowering lives through innovation, we examined the end-to-end value chain of Cooperative Societies and launched CoopHub to provide solutions that address the pains and headaches in the Cooperative Society experience for both the leaders of these communities and the members.

CoopHub is the future of Cooperative Societies and we have designed every detail to address the needs of every player in the Cooperative Society ecosystem and empower these communities for optimal productivity,” he said.

Delving into the unique features of CoopHub, Solomon Ayodele, Wema Bank’s Head of Innovation, added, “CoopHub is taking Cooperatives to an era where conflicts, stressful physical meetings, mistrust, inadequate capital, poor recordkeeping and inefficient governance are all a thing of the past.

With a digitised database for all records, a dedicated User Management section for leaders to manage members efficiently, a transparent overview of contributions for both leaders and members, seamless communication framework that allows for easy planning of meetings and events, and a host of other unique features, CoopHub truly is the solution that every Cooperative Society needs.

To promote community and financial security, CoopHub also offers a three-factor authentication system that ensures that every withdrawal from the Cooperative Society’s account is subject to an approval of three members of the Cooperative Society, including the Admin.

We have been very intentional with CoopHub and I encourage every Cooperative Society to come on board and experience the future of Cooperative Societies through CoopHub”, Ayodele concluded.

CoopHub is now live and open to every Cooperative Society across the world.

This futuristic solution is set to not only empower Nigerian lives with increased access to their needs through Cooperative Societies, but also revolutionise Cooperative Society operations for the best.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has unveiled new rules on Issuance and Allotment by Private Companies Securities. The rules declared that any person who issues or allots securities without its prior approval or violates any provisions of its regulations would be liable to a penalty not less than N10 million in the first instance and a further sum of N100,000 for every day the violation continues.

The recommended fine is contained in the proposed new rules on the issuance and allotment of private companies and securities prepared by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The rules apply to debt securities issuances by private companies either by way of public offer, private placement or other methods as may be approved by the Commission; Registered exchanges and platforms which admit debt securities issued by private companies for trading, price discovery or information repository purposes; Registered capital market operators who are parties in issuances and allotment of debt securities of private companies.

The Commission, which set out stringent punishment for those who violate the regulation, stated: “Any person who issues or allots securities without the prior approval of the Commission, or violates any provisions of these rules shall be liable to any one or more of the following sanctions: i. A penalty of not less than N10 million in the first instance and a further sum of N100,000 for every day the violation continues; ii. Suspension, or withdrawal of the registration of the capital market operator(s) involved; iii. Disgorgement of proceeds/income from the transaction; and iv. The Commission may ratify or rescind a transaction if it is in the interest of the public to do so; v. Any other sanction the Commission deems fit in the circumstance.”

The document stated that a private company may list its securities on a registered securities exchange, adding that such securities must be listed not later than 30 days after completion of allotment.

SEC explained that for a private company to be eligible to issue securities under the regulations it must be a company duly incorporated under Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), or other enabling Laws with at least three years track record of operation.

The regulations pegged the maximum amount a private company can raise within a one-year period at N15 billion provided that where a private company intends to undertake any further debt securities issuance, it shall be required to re-register as a public company.