President Bola Tinubu has approved the implementation of a 15 per cent ad-valorem import duty on petrol and diesel brought into the country, a move aimed at encouraging local refining and stabilising the petroleum market.
The directive, contained in a letter dated October 21, 2025, was addressed to the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
The instruction followed a proposal by the Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Zacch Adedeji.
According to the document, the new tariff is part of what the government described as a “market-responsive import tariff framework” targeted at protecting emerging domestic refineries from being underpriced by cheaper imported products.
In his communication to the President, Adedeji explained that the measure was crucial to ensuring price stability and supporting the country’s shift to a naira-based oil economy.
“The core objective of this initiative is to strengthen local refining capacity and ensure a stable, affordable supply of petroleum products across Nigeria,” Adedeji said.
He noted that while the production of diesel and aviation fuel from local refineries has increased, petrol importation still accounts for a significant portion of national consumption.
“Price instability persists partly due to misalignment between locally refined products and import parity pricing. The new framework seeks to discourage duty-free imports from undercutting domestic producers,” he added.
Government projections indicate that the tariff could increase the landing cost of petrol by about ₦99.72 per litre. Despite that, officials argue that pump prices in Lagos are still expected to remain below those in several West African countries.
The policy comes as Nigeria continues to scale up its refining capacity, with the 650,000 bpd Dangote Refinery commencing diesel and aviation fuel production, and several modular refineries in Edo, Rivers and Imo States producing limited volumes of petrol.
