The African Democratic Congress (ADC) flatly rejects President Tinubu’s approval of a 15% import duty on petrol and diesel, labeling it “insensitive and misguided” and a move that will only worsen the severe economic hardship in Nigeria.
The party’s main points of contention are:
• Price Hike Warning: The ADC warns that this new levy will likely push the pump price of petrol past ₦1,000 per litre, making life unbearable for families, commuters, and small businesses already reeling from subsidy removal and currency devaluation.
• Failed Justification: They questioned the tax’s purpose, noting the Port Harcourt refinery collapsed just five months after a major rehabilitation, suggesting the government cannot even run its own facilities.
• Policy Critique: The ADC accused the Tinubu administration’s economic policy of “condemning the majority to a life of hardship” and dismissed the “Renewed Hope Agenda” as “a trial-and-error system” or a “cynical, self-serving agenda” that ignores ordinary citizens.
The ADC demanded that the government immediately reverse the 15% duty, stressing that the government must strengthen local refining capabilities before introducing taxes that burden Nigerians with higher costs for imported fuel. They concluded that “economic patriotism cannot be enforced through pain.”
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