…Edun Says No Immediate Implementation plan
…Shettima hails Reforms as “Painful but Necessary”
By John Paul
The Federal Government yesterday moved to calm public anger over the proposed five per cent fuel surcharge, insisting there are no immediate plans to implement the levy despite its inclusion in the new Tax Administration Act 2025.
The clarification followed mounting criticism from opposition parties and labour unions. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) had branded the surcharge “deeply insensitive,” warning that Nigerians were still reeling from the impact of subsidy removal. Its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said government revenue gains had not translated into relief for citizens and argued that more taxes would only worsen hardship.
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) was blunter, describing the measure as “reckless and an act of economic wickedness.” In a statement signed by its President Festus Osifo and General Secretary Nuhu Toro, the union gave the government a 14-day ultimatum from last Monday to withdraw the proposal or face a nationwide shutdown of critical sectors.
If applied at the current pump price of ₦900 per litre, the surcharge would add about ₦45 to each litre of petrol purchased.
Finance and Economy Minister Wale Edun, however, told journalists in Abuja that the provision was not new but a long-standing clause under the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) Act of 2007. Its inclusion in the 2025 Act, he explained, was part of a consolidation effort to simplify Nigeria’s fragmented tax system, not an automatic introduction of fresh levies.
“The inclusion of the surcharge in the 2025 Nigeria Tax Administration Act does not mean an automatic introduction of new tax,” Edun said. “It doesn’t mean fresh taxation automatically. There is a whole formal process involved, and as of today, no order has been issued, none is being prepared, and there is no plan.”
He added that even when the new law takes effect on January 1, 2026, its implementation would still require a commencement order published in the official gazette. Edun stressed that the government’s priority was blocking leakages, strengthening tax governance, and boosting efficiency, not imposing additional burdens on households already under strain.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kashim Shettima used the 66th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Economic Society (NES) in Abuja to frame the administration’s controversial reforms as evidence of rare political courage.
“Under President Bola Tinubu, this administration has embarked on bold and inevitable reforms to address structural weaknesses that others before us only paid lip service to,” Shettima declared. “Their painful but necessary consequences remind us that a malignant disease can only be cured by painful surgery. The wounds are temporary, but the recovery is permanent.”
He urged African nations to embrace structural transformation and the knowledge economy to tackle unemployment and poverty, warning that outdated economic approaches had trapped the continent in stagnation. “A random citizen in Daura can outsource his services to a corporation in Dallas without seeing the inside of a plane. Africa must reinvent its human capital to catch up with this changing world,” he said.
The conference also featured interventions from Budget Minister Abubakar Bagudu, who pledged closer collaboration between the government and economists, and Livestock Development Minister Idi Maiha, who touted the sector as Nigeria’s “next crude oil.” The President of NES, Prof. Adeola Adenikinju, reaffirmed the society’s readiness to support the administration’s policy direction, while the African Development Bank’s Dr Eric Ogunleye commended Nigeria’s reform momentum.