Nigerians have been assured that the proposed five per cent surcharge on fuel will not take effect from January 2026, as previously speculated.
This was hinted by the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, during an interview on Channels Television on Tuesday morning.
Providing context to the surcharge, the tax maverick said, “The decision was made to put this in the new law and to put a commencement date that is going to be in the future, based on an order to be gazetted by the minister. So, nobody will just spontaneously introduce the tax and create problems for the system.”
“There is nothing that says this tax will start 1st January 2026. People need to get that right,” he disclosed.
The Bola Tinubu-led administration had reportedly introduced a surcharge on petrol and diesel as part of recently introduced tax laws.
The development has led to outrage from many quarters, lamenting the high cost of living in the country. The Trade Union Congress (TUC) also threatened to strike if the decision is not reversed.
According to Mr Oyedele, the petroleum tax is not a new introduction, but dates back to 2007, and was only explored by the Tinubu administration, which he serves under.
“TUC, which is planning to go on strike to say it should be removed. I don’t know what they want the government to remove, because it hasn’t been imposed, and there is no regulation that says it would be imposed from January .
“The TUC should have complained and protested when this was introduced in 2007,” he added, noting that the levy was necessary as it would help the government with funds to maintain poor road networks, which are making it difficult and expensive to transport goods across the country.
He disclosed that Nigeria has about 200,000 kilometres of roads, with only 60,000 paved, making logistics costly, unsafe, and inefficient, assuring Nigerians that the reform initiatives of the Tinubu administration will yield results, asking for patience from the citizens.