Nigerian govt clarifies petrol, diesel surcharge

The Federal Government has denied reports that a five per cent surcharge on petrol and diesel will take effect in January 2026, saying no implementation date has been set.

Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, clarified the matter in a video message released on Friday, stressing that while the new Harmonised Tax Act signed by President Bola Tinubu in June does provide for the surcharge, only the Minister of Finance has the authority to determine when it will commence.

“What we have is a provision that already existed under the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency Act, which has now been consolidated into the new tax law. However, it does not take effect in January 2026, as has been wrongly reported,” Oyedele said.

The surcharge, when introduced, will apply only to fossil fuel products such as petrol and diesel, while excluding cleaner energy sources like cooking gas, compressed natural gas, and household kerosene.

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The levy is not entirely new. It was first introduced in the 2002 Act establishing FERMA, and later expanded through the 2007 Amendment Act, which created a funding mechanism allocating 40 per cent of proceeds to FERMA and 60 per cent to State Roads Maintenance Agencies.

Oyedele noted that revenue from the charge is intended to support transport infrastructure, which, in turn, could lower logistics costs and ease inflation.

Since the removal of fuel subsidies in 2023, petrol prices have tripled and inflation has surged, heightening public concern that another fuel levy, whenever introduced, could further squeeze household incomes and complicate government efforts to stabilise the economy.

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