Nigerians raise concerns on 15% fuel duty over tariff policy

News Update

Recalled that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu gave the nod for the implementation of a fresh 15 per cent import duty on petrol and diesel, last week.

With the development, Nigerians will be left with no choice but to carry the burden when the policy takes full effect in the coming weeks.

This represents an approximately N99.72 per litre increment for imported petrol and diesel when the tariff is implemented.

According to Zacch Adedeji, the Executive Chief of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the move, which is targeted at protecting local refineries, would lead to imported petrol pump prices of an estimated N964.72 per litre in Lagos State, up from the current price of N925.

By implication, in Abuja and other parts of the country, petrol and diesel prices are expected to increase.

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The policy decision has generated mixed reactions in the last five days.

Sunday Dare, a presidential spokesperson, explained that the policy is a bridge, not a burden, on Nigerians.

He said the fresh import tariff is to reverse the dependency trend in Nigeria by encouraging local refining and boosting domestic capacity.

The Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismark Rewane, in his perspective, said the policy is good for the country because it’s targeted at encouraging local production.

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise also noted that the tariff would protect the country’s refineries, including Dangote and Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited refineries.

However, an All Progressives Congress chieftain in Delta and businessman, Ayiri Emami, kicked against the 15 per cent import duty, noting that the burden will be passed to Nigerians.

“This kind of policy will not hurt marketers—it will hurt ordinary Nigerians,” Emani stated in his reaction to the 15 per cent import duty.

The spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, also kicked against the tariff, stressing that the move would increase the price of petrol.