The African Centre Urges the Tinubu Government to Suspend the 15% Fuel Import Tariff in Nigeria

The African Centre Urges the Tinubu Government to Suspend the 15% Fuel Import Tariff in Nigeria

Ezenwa Nwagwu, Executive Director of PAACA, stated that imposing taxes on imported fuel at this sensitive juncture could lead to artificial scarcity, drive inflation, and undermine deregulation efforts that were intended to open up the market rather than restrict it.

The Peering Advocacy and Advancement Center in Africa (PAACA) has asked the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government to suspend the proposed 15 percent import tariff on petrol (PMS) and diesel.

Addressing journalists on Monday, PAACA executive director, Ezenwa Nwagwu said by taxing imported fuel at this critical stage, the government risks creating artificial scarcity, causing inflation, and undermining deregulation, which was meant to open, not close the market.

He said, “We gather today under the theme “Protect the People, Not the Monopoly” to raise our collective voice against the Federal Government’s plan to impose a 15 percent import tariff on petrol (PMS) and diesel — a policy that threatens Nigeria’s economic stability and worsens the suffering of ordinary citizens.

“The government justifies this move by claiming it will “protect local refining capacity” and “stabilise the downstream market.” But in truth, this policy will eliminate competition, increase fuel prices, and concentrate monopoly control in the hands of a single private refinery — the Dangote Refinery.”

Nwagwu explained that the Dangote Refinery currently meets only about 40 percent of national fuel demand, noting that restricting imports now would not stabilise supply but would create scarcity.

According to him, once competition disappears, prices are dictated rather than discovered, leaving Nigerians with no choice and no relief.

He said, “Imported petrol today lands at roughly ₦802 per litre, while the locally refined product from Dangote lands at ₦929.72 per litre. Adding a 15 percent tariff will only make things worse, increasing pump prices by between ₦140 and ₦165 per litre and driving up the cost of transportation, food, and essential goods.”

He said further, “The government’s role is to ensure fairness and transparency, not to pick winners and losers. Nigerians are already enduring fuel subsidy removal, currency devaluation, inflation, and job losses. Adding a 15 percent tariff at this time would only deepen the hardship and risk public unrest.

“It also contradicts the very spirit of deregulation, which was supposed to dismantle cartels, not recreate new ones under a different name. History has already taught us painful lessons. From cement to sugar to flour, once monopolies take root in Nigeria, prices rise permanently and alternatives vanish.

“Nigerians have been conditioned to view industrial magnates as “national saviours,” creating what can only be described as a dangerous illusion of benevolent monopoly. But patriotism cannot be built on exploitation. We cannot allow corporate dominance to be disguised as national pride while citizens pay the price for it every day at the fuel pump.

“We therefore demand that the Federal Government immediately suspend the proposed 15 percent import tariff on petrol and diesel until domestic refining capacity meets at least 80 percent of national demand. The government should also publicly disclose all refinery supply agreements with marketers to ensure fair access and direct the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to publish monthly data on refinery output, import volumes, and landed costs to promote transparency.

“In the medium term, a downstream competition framework should be established within the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to prevent monopolistic pricing, alongside an Energy Market Monitoring Unit under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission

In the long term, the government should invest in improving logistics and port efficiency to lower transportation and import costs for all market participants. Additionally, it should promote citizen oversight and ensure transparency through open data on petroleum pricing and distribution.