Tinubu Driving Nigerians to the Brink With Fuel Tax, ADC Warns

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has cautioned that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration is pushing Nigerians to the brink of despair with the introduction of a 15 per cent import duty on petrol and diesel.

In a strongly worded statement on Friday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, described the new fuel tax as “insensitive, misguided, and anti-people,” warning that it would further worsen the economic hardship facing citizens.

Abdullahi said while the ADC supports private investment in the energy sector, government policies must balance the protection of such investments with the welfare of the people.

“The rationale for imposing this levy under the guise of protecting domestic production is questionable,” the party said, citing the collapse of the Port Harcourt refinery barely five months after a $1.5 billion rehabilitation that resulted in a ₦366.2 billion loss.

According to the ADC, the administration’s economic policies have consistently shown “a lack of empathy for the suffering of ordinary Nigerians,” adding that growth built on hardship is unsustainable.

“This fuel tax makes one wonder if the APC government ever considers the pain its policies inflict on the people. From all indications, the levy could push petrol prices beyond ₦1,000 per litre, making life unbearable for families, commuters, farmers, and small businesses already hit by subsidy removal and currency devaluation,” the statement read.

The ADC described the government’s Renewed Hope Agenda as “a trial-and-error system at best and a cynical, self-serving agenda at worst.”

While the government continues to speak of economic progress, the party said, food, rent, transport, and school fees have all gone beyond the reach of the average Nigerian.

“The government cannot continue its ‘tax attack’ on citizens without compounding their misery. Nigerians deserve a government that plans, not one that panics. A government that cannot run its own refineries has no moral right to tax those keeping the country running with their sweat and blood,” the ADC said.

The party demanded the immediate reversal of the fuel import duty, urging the Tinubu administration to invest transparently in local refining capacity before implementing policies aimed at discouraging fuel importation.

“Economic patriotism cannot be enforced through pain,” the ADC warned. “Until the government can meet local demand through domestic refining, any tax on imports will only make Nigerians pay more for fuel.”