The Nigerian government’s proposed 15 per cent import duty and 7.5 per cent VAT on fuel could raise annual revenue by N4.8 trillion while pushing petrol prices from around N950 to N1,163.75 per litre.
Nigeria’s federal government is proposing a new tariff regime on petrol and diesel that could raise about N4.8 trillion yearly, according to a leaked policy memorandum. The plan includes a 15 per cent import duty on “cost, insurance and freight” (CIF) value of imported fuel, which analysts say would add roughly N99.72 per litre to current costs.
With the combined impact of the import duty and a 7.5 per cent value-added tax, industry insiders expect petrol pump prices to rise by at least 22.5 per cent — from about N950 per litre to approximately N1,163.75. The government says the measure is corrective in nature and intended to protect domestic refiners such as the Dangote Refinery and the NNPC Refining & Petrochemical facilities, rather than purely revenue-driven.
Critics say the timing is poor: with inflation already high and subsidy removal fresh in memory, the extra cost burden risks deepening poverty and creating room for profiteering in a weakly regulated downstream sector. As one unnamed industry operator put it: “The product we produce locally is always more expensive… historically, prices never go down after such measures.”