Tinubu Did Not Introduce 5% Fuel Tax

Tinubu Did Not Introduce 5% Fuel Tax


The Presidential Fiscal Policy & Tax Reforms Committee has denied insinuations that the 5% fuel surcharge in the new tax laws was introduced by President Bola Tinubu.

The Committee explained that the provision already exists under the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (Amendment) Act, 2007, insisting that the current administration did not freshly introduce it.

It also explained that contrary to popular opinion, the new fuel surcharge would not automatically kick off in January 2026, but will only commence when the Minister of Finance issues an order published in the Official Gazette, as stated under Chapter 7 of the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025.

The explanations were made in a post via ๐• account on Saturday by the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, who amplified the position of the Tax Reform Committee.

He added that the surcharge excludes household usages, including household kerosene, cooking gas (LPG), and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

Below is the text of the post by the presidential media aide.

โ€œ๐“๐ก๐ž 5% ๐’๐ฎ๐ซ๐œ๐ก๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ž ๐จ๐ง ๐…๐ฎ๐ž๐ฅ: ๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต?

โ€œThis note seeks to clarify matters arising regarding the 5% fuel surcharge in the new tax laws. The charge is not a new tax introduced by the current administration. The provision already exists under the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (Amendment) Act, 2007. Its restatement in the new Tax Act is for harmonisation and transparency rather than immediate implementation.

โ€œ๐…๐ซ๐ž๐ช๐ฎ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐€๐ฌ๐ค๐ž๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ

โ€œ๐1. ๐ˆ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐“๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐›๐ฎโ€™๐ฌ ๐š๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ž๐ ๐š 5% ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐œ๐ก๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ž ๐จ๐ง ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ž๐ฅ?

โ€œA1. No. The surcharge is not new. It already exists under the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (Amendment) Act, 2007 (FERMA Act). The new Tax Act only restates it for harmonisation and transparency. Hence, it was not part of the original tax reform bills submitted by the president to the National Assembly.

โ€œ๐2. ๐ƒ๐จ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ž๐š๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐œ๐ก๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐ข๐ง ๐‰๐š๐ง๐ฎ๐š๐ซ๐ฒ 2026 ๐ฐ๐ก๐ž๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ง๐ž๐ฐ ๐ญ๐š๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐š๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐š๐ค๐ž ๐ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ž๐œ๐ญ?

โ€œA2. No. The surcharge does not take effect automatically with the new tax laws. It will only commence when the Minister of Finance issues an order published in the Official Gazette as stated under Chapter 7 of the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025. This safeguard ensures careful consideration of timing and economic conditions before implementation.

โ€œ๐3. ๐–๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐œ๐ก๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ž ๐š๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ž๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ๐ฌ?

โ€œA3. No. Several energy products used by households are exempt. This includes household kerosene, cooking gas (LPG), and compressed natural gas (CNG). Clean & renewable energy products are also excluded to align with Nigeriaโ€™s energy transition agenda.

โ€œ๐4. ๐–๐ก๐ฒ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐š๐›๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐œ๐ก๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ž, ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐œ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐ก๐š๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ค ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐ข๐ง๐Ÿ๐ฅ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง?

โ€œA4. The surcharge is designed as a dedicated fund for road infrastructure & maintenance. If implemented effectively, it will provide safer travel conditions, reduce travel time. This practice is virtually universal with over 150 countries imposing various charges ranging between 20% to 80% of fuel products to guarantee regular investment in road infrastructure.

โ€œ๐5. ๐–๐ก๐ฒ ๐œ๐š๐งโ€™๐ญ ๐ฌ๐š๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ž๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐›๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ฒ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐ฏ๐š๐ฅ ๐›๐ž ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐š๐?

โ€œA5. While subsidy savings will provide some funding, they are insufficient to meet Nigeriaโ€™s huge and recurring road infrastructure needs among other public finance needs. A dedicated fund ensures reliable and predictable financing for roads, complementing D budget and ensuring roads are not left underfunded.

โ€œ๐6. ๐ˆ๐ฌ๐งโ€™๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐š๐ญ ๐จ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ซ๐ž๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ ๐จ๐›๐ฃ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ซ๐ž๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐š๐ฑ๐ž๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐›๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ž๐ง ๐จ๐ง ๐œ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐ž๐ง๐ฌ?

โ€œA6. Not at all. The reforms have already reduced multiple taxes and removed or suspended several charges that directly affect households and small businesses, such as VAT on fuel, excise tax on telecoms, and D cybersecurity levy. By harmonising earmarked taxes, government is reducing duplication and ensuring a more efficient tax system.

โ€œ๐7. ๐–๐ก๐ฒ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐š๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐…๐„๐‘๐Œ๐€ ๐€๐œ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐œ๐ก๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ž?

โ€œA7. Yes, the surcharge has been removed from the FERMA Act & incorporated into the new tax laws which are designed to provide a forward-looking legal framework for Nigeria. Keeping this provision in place within a harmonised legal framework ensures Nigeria is prepared to address critical challenges. It is not about immediate implementation, but to ensure D law provides a clear and effective framework for when it becomes necessary in the future.โ€

Naija News reports that the explanation follows earlier clarification by the federal government, which claimed some people have been giving wrong information about the 5% fuel tax.


ยฉ 2025 Naija News, a division of Polance Media Inc. Contact us via [emailย protected]



Source: Naijanews

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