Adebayo blasts Tinubu over 15% fuel import duty, calls policy ‘anti-people’The 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has strongly criticised President Bola Tinubu’s decision to approve a 15 percent import duty on refined petroleum products, describing it as a measure that would further impoverish Nigerians.
Speaking during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, Adebayo said the new tariff exemplified the administration’s “tax-driven governance style” and would worsen the economic hardship citizens already face.
“President Tinubu is becoming a master tax collector. If Nigerians are not careful, he will find a way to tax the very air we breathe. This policy is not pro-people—it’s exploitative, he Adebayo said.
The former SDP flagbearer argued that the decision marked a departure from the values Tinubu once espoused as a progressive politician, claiming that the president’s focus had shifted from empowering citizens to maximizing revenue.
“This is not the Tinubu that once marched with Abiola during the Hope ’93 campaign. Today, he and his team see Nigerians as customers to be charged, not citizens to be served.
”Tomorrow, they may even consider a ‘multiple-birth tax’ or some other way to squeeze more money from struggling families.”
Adebayo blamed the federal government for failing to restore the country’s refineries to optimal performance, insisting that inefficiency within the petroleum sector should not be transferred to citizens through new taxes.
“The president is also the Minister of Petroleum. Instead of fixing refineries, he’s imposing tariffs to cover up failure.
“We’ve spent billions on turnaround maintenance, yet the refineries remain idle. Now the government wants to penalize Nigerians for its incompetence.”
He further urged Tinubu to direct relevant officials to focus on achieving self-sufficiency in fuel production within a fixed timeframe.
“If the refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna were functional, we wouldn’t need to import fuel.
”The president should call the Minister of State for Petroleum, Heineken Lokpobiri, and the NNPC’s leadership and demand results within six months,” Adebayo stressed.
President Tinubu recently approved a 15 per cent ad-valorem duty on petrol and diesel imports into Nigeria, in a directive addressed to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
The policy, proposed by FIRS Chairman Zacch Adedeji, is part of what the government describes as a “market-responsive import framework” aimed at protecting local refiners and stabilising the downstream oil market.
However, industry experts and economic analysts warn that the additional levy could raise the pump price of fuel and trigger a ripple effect across other sectors of the economy.
Nigeria continues to rely heavily on imported refined products, meeting an estimated 67 per cent of its petrol demand through imports, despite the gradual start of operations at the 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote Refinery.
Adebayo, however, insisted that such measures were counterproductive and insensitive to citizens’ struggles.
“Policies like this show that the government is out of touch with reality.
“Leadership should be about easing the people’s burden, not taxing them into submission.”
