President Bola Tinubu has approved the introduction of a 15 percent ad valorem import duty on petrol and diesel imports into Nigeria, which was contained in a letter by Damilotun Aderemi, the Private Secretary to the President, directing the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
The letter stated that this decision was based on a proposal by the Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Zacch Adedeji, requesting the president to apply a 15 percent duty on the cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) value of imported petrol and diesel in order to align import costs with domestic market realities.
In his memo to the President, Adedeji said, “The core objective of this initiative is to operationalize 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.”
This import duty could increase the landing cost of petrol and diesel to an estimated N99.72 per liter, which would result in an increase of the pump price of the products at fuel stations.