The African Democratic Congress (ADC) Friday, took a victory lap after the Federal Government suspended its controversial 15 per cent import duty on petrol and diesel, insisting that the suspension confirmed its warning that the levy would worsen the country’s economic pains.
The opposition party also slammed President Bola Tinubu’s administration as ‘confused’, accusing it of running a government of ‘trial and error’ after what it described as the seventh policy flip-flop in two years.
In a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, recalled that it had, on 31 October, cautioned the government that imposing a fresh tariff on imported fuel would deepen the hardship caused by subsidy removal, currency depreciation and surging living costs.
While commending the administration for backing down, the party said the reversal again exposed a pattern of hasty decisions followed by embarrassing U-turns.
He said, ‘As we noted in our statement reacting to the planned tariff, the ‘new levy is likely to push the pump price of petrol beyond N1,000 per litre.
‘If this happens, life would become even more unbearable for families, commuters, transporters, farmers, and small businesses already struggling under the weight of fuel subsidy removal without social protection and currency devaluation without safeguards’.
The party said it had also queried why the government would contemplate taxing imported fuel ‘without first ensuring local capacity for production’, adding that it was ‘quite interesting’ that these were the same reasons the administration later cited for backing down.
‘What has become clear, however, is that President Tinubu is running a government of trial and error that is merely experimenting and bumbling through’, the statement noted.
Abdullahi further accused federal agencies of ‘singing discordant tunes’, noting that while one claimed the policy was only postponed, another declared it ‘no longer in view’, which ‘shows a government that is confused, unsure, and dangerously working at cross purposes’.
The ADC urged the administration to ‘realise that public office is a responsibility, not a laboratory’, and vowed to continue speaking against policies that threaten citizens’ welfare.
The ADC’s claim came barely 24 hours after Tinubu suspended the 15 per cent ad-valorem duty on petrol and diesel — a policy initially introduced to align fuel import costs with domestic market realities and encourage local refining.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) confirmed the suspension on Thursday.
Its Director of Public Affairs, George Ene-Ita, said the levy was ‘no longer in view and not implementable at this time’, adding that the decision had presidential approval.
