Obidient Movement Rejects Proposed 5% Fuel Surcharge, Cautions FG on Hardship

The Obidient Movement has urged the Federal Government to shelve plans to introduce a proposed five per cent surcharge on fuel, warning that such a measure would deepen the economic hardship confronting Nigerians.

The proposal, announced by the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, is part of the Tinubu administration’s fiscal reform agenda. According to Oyedele, the surcharge is designed to boost revenue for road infrastructure and reduce logistics costs.

But in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, the Obidient Movement described the policy as well intentioned but ultimately regressive.

Tanko argued that successive governments had promised that new levies would transform infrastructure, yet Nigerians had little to show for the trillions collected over the years.

“For decades, Nigerians have been told that levies will fix our roads, power our hospitals, and strengthen the economy. Instead, resources disappear into private pockets while highways collapse, transport costs rise, and citizens sink deeper into poverty,” he said.

The group stressed that fuel is an essential commodity, not a luxury, and that additional taxation would disproportionately burden low-income households. It advised government to broaden the tax net, introduce progressive taxation on luxury goods, and cut wasteful public expenditure rather than target ordinary Nigerians.

Tanko added that no new fuel taxes should be imposed until credible accountability and anti-corruption mechanisms are established, alongside measures that provide real relief to citizens.

Fuel pricing remains a politically sensitive issue in Nigeria. The removal of petrol subsidy in May 2023 led to sharp increases in pump prices, transport fares, food costs and overall inflation. Critics argue that further taxation on fuel would aggravate the cost-of-living crisis, while government maintains that reforms are necessary to reduce borrowing and stabilise the economy.

The proposed surcharge comes at a time of heightened public discontent over inflation, unemployment and insecurity.