No immediate plan for 5% fuel tax – Finance Minister
Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, has moved to allay public fears, clarifying that there are no immediate plans to implement the proposed 5% tax on petroleum products.
Speaking to reporters in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister addressed widespread concerns, explaining that while the policy is part of a new tax administration framework slated for a January 1, 2026, start date, its implementation is not automatic and will follow a formal process.
Edun’s clarification comes amid growing apprehension and public discourse regarding the potential new tax.
He emphasised that the 5% surcharge is not a new imposition by President Bola Tinubu’s administration but a long-standing provision that was first introduced in 2007 under the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) Act.
READ ALSO: TUC threatens strike over new petroleum tax
He further elaborated that the inclusion of the surcharge in the 2025 Act is for the purpose of “consolidating and harmonising existing laws for greater clarity and easier compliance.”
“The tax reform bills and the tax act would not become operational until January 1, 2026, and the 5 per cent fuel surcharge which is mentioned therein will not automatically come into effect. There is even a process,” Edun stated.
“Before any surcharge can come into effect it requires the commencement order from the honourable Minister of Finance and this indeed must be published in a gazette, so it is not automatic that we will wake up on January 1 and there is a new tax.”
The Minister stressed that no such order has been issued or is being prepared. “There is a whole formal process involved and as at today no order has been issued, no is being prepared and there is no immediate plan to implement any surcharge,” he assured the public.
Edun’s remarks follow a strong rejection of the proposed tax from the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on Monday.
The TUC had labeled the policy a “reckless proposal” and “nothing but an act of economic wickedness against already overburdened Nigerians,” warning that it would “compound suffering, cripple businesses, and push millions of citizens deeper into poverty.”
The union had also declared that the government “cannot continue to use Nigerians as sacrificial lambs for its economic experiments.”
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