The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has condemned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval of a 15 percent import duty on petrol and diesel.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party described the fuel levy as “both insensitive and misguided,” questioning whether the APC government ever considers the hardships its policies impose on ordinary citizens.
While expressing support for private investment in Nigeria’s energy sector, the ADC stressed that policies designed to protect such investments must also safeguard public welfare.
The party challenged the rationale behind the levy, noting that the Port Harcourt refinery, intended to boost local refining, collapsed just five months after a $1.5 billion rehabilitation, resulting in a loss of ₦366.2 billion.
“From all indications, this new levy is likely to push the pump price of petrol beyond ₦1,000 per litre.
“If this happens, life would become even more unbearable for families, commuters, transporters, farmers, and small businesses already struggling under the weight of fuel subsidy removal and currency devaluation without safeguards,” the statement reads.
The ADC accused the Tinubu administration of running an economy that “condemns the majority to a life of hardship and misery,” describing the government’s Renewed Hope Agenda as, at best, a trial-and-error system, and at worst, a self-serving plan with little regard for ordinary Nigerians.
The party called on the government to reverse the 15 percent duty, asserting that Nigerians deserve “a government that plans, not one that panics.”
“A government that cannot run its own refineries has no business taxing those who keep the country running with their sweat and blood.
“President Tinubu must understand that economic patriotism cannot be enforced through pain,” it added
While endorsing genuine efforts to ensure energy security, the ADC maintained that local refining should be strengthened before any taxes are imposed that make imported fuel more expensive for Nigerians.
