Nigerians Will Pay Fuel Tax When The Economy Becomes Stable

Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has said the Federal Government will introduce fuel taxes when the economy stabilises and citizens’ incomes can accommodate the extra costs.

He disclosed this in an interview with ARISE News on the sidelines of the 2026 IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, explaining that the government would first consolidate its economic reforms, restore growth and improve household earnings.

Oyedele said imposing additional levies immediately after petrol subsidy removal would have worsened Nigerians’ hardship.

“You remove subsidy, you can’t immediately impose taxes. That would be insensitive. You push the people to the wall,” he said.

The minister noted that fuel taxes account for between 20 and 80 per cent of petroleum prices in some countries, while several African nations impose multiple levies on fuel products.

He said the proposed revenue would support infrastructure and help the country prepare for future disruptions in fuel supply.

“Not because we want to impose taxes, it will be because those amounts of taxes will be dedicated into road infrastructure, they’ll be dedicated into building our fuel reserve, that can help us moderate prices of fuel products, if anything happens,” he explained.

According to Oyedele, the arrangement could also allow the government to suspend the levies temporarily when necessary to cushion the effects of market shocks.

“This is what more than 50 countries around the world, they were reducing the taxes, but we had no taxes, there was nothing to reduce,” he added.

He assured Nigerians that the proposed taxes would not be introduced secretly, noting that the law requires an official order published in the Federal Government Gazette before they can take effect.

“There has to be an order published in the gazette by the finance minister, which means we can’t do it in secret,” he said.

Oyedele maintained that the taxes would only be introduced when economic conditions improved sufficiently and Nigerians could understand the reasons for the policy and its expected benefits.