President Bola Tinubu has approved the implementation of a 15 per cent ad-valorem import duty on petrol and diesel imported to Nigeria as part of his administration’s moves to optimize the production of domestic refineries and promote stability in the downstream oil sector.
In a directive conveyed in a letter dated October 21, 2025, the President directed the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to immediately begin enforcing the tariff as part of the government’s new “market-responsive import tariff framework.”
The letter, signed by the President’s Private Secretary, Mr. Damilotun Aderemi, indicated that the President’s approval of the new fiscal regime for imported petrol and diesel was based on a proposal submitted by FIRS Chairman, Dr. Zacch Adedeji.
Adedeji, in his memo to the Presidency stated that the initiative was designed to support Nigeria’s drive for energy security and economic stability
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The FIRS boss clarified: “The core objective of this initiative is to operationalise crude transactions in local currency, strengthen local refining capacity, and ensure a stable, affordable supply of petroleum products across Nigeria
“While domestic refining of petrol has begun to increase and diesel sufficiency has been achieved, price instability persists, partly due to the misalignment between local refiners and marketers,” he added.
Specifically, the fiscal regime recommended a 15 per cent duty on the cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) value of imported petrol and diesel to reflect true market conditions and encourage local production.
Adedeji pointed out that import parity pricing often falls below cost recovery levels for domestic refiners, especially amid foreign exchange and freight fluctuations — a situation that threatens the viability of emerging local producers.
According to him, the situation has exposed the government to face a two-fold responsibility “to protect consumers and domestic producers from unfair pricing practices and collusion, while ensuring a level playing field for refiners to recover costs and attract investments.”
The tax expert expressed optimism that the new tariff system would prevent duty-free fuel imports from undermining local refineries and promote a fair, competitive downstream sector.
Adedeji further clarified: “At current CIF levels, this represents an increment of approximately 99.72 per litre, which nudges imported landed costs toward local cost-recovery without choking supply or inflating consumer prices beyond sustainable thresholds. Even with this adjustment, estimated Lagos pump prices would remain in the range of N964.72 per litre ($0.62), still significantly below regional averages such as Senegal ($1.76 per litre), Cote d’Ivoire ($1.52 per litre), and Ghana ($1.37 per litre).”
The approval by Tinubu of the FIRS’ proposal on imported petroleum products aligns with Federal Government’s broader efforts to cut reliance on imported petroleum products and increase domestic refining output.
Despite the commencement of operations of the 650,000-barrels-per-day Dangote Refinery and modular refineries in Edo, Rivers, and Imo states, Nigeria’s imported petrol still accounts for about 67 per cent of domestic total consumption.
