Fresh Fuel Price Hike Looms as President Tinubu Approves 15 Percent Import Duty on Petrol and Diesel

A significant fuel price hike is now imminent across Nigeria following President Bola Tinubu’s approval of a 15 per cent ad valorem import duty on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, and Automotive Gas Oil (diesel).

Dependable NG reports that this key decision was formally announced in a letter dated October 21, 2025. The communication, conveyed by the President’s private secretary, Damilotun Aderemi, was directed to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). President Tinubu granted his approval following a specific request from the FIRS to apply the 15 per cent duty on the Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) value of the imports, a measure intended to align the costs of imported fuel with domestic economic realities.

The immediate implementation of this new import duty is projected to increase the current price of petrol and diesel by an estimated N99.72 kobo per litre. This will push the current average price of petrol, which currently sits between N950 and N960 per litre in Abuja, to potentially over N1,000 per litre for the majority of filling stations that rely heavily on imported supplies. For diesel, the price is projected to rise above the current range of N1,120 to N1,140 per litre.

The timing of this duty approval is critical, given recent data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) that highlights Nigeria’s heavy reliance on foreign fuel sources. The data indicates that out of the total PMS supply of 21.68 billion litres between August 2024 and October 2025, a massive 15.01 billion litres (69 per cent) were imported, while only 6.67 billion litres (31 per cent) were sourced from local refineries like the Dangote Refinery. The import duty tax consequently places the locally refined petrol from the Dangote Refinery in an advantageous competitive position, especially since the land cost of imported fuel stood at N839.97 per litre as of October 21, 2025, which was cheaper than the Dangote Refinery’s ex-depot price of N877 per litre, according to data from the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria. This import duty approval follows a recent directive from the FIRS to financial institutions to deduct a 10 per cent withholding tax on interest earned from short-term securities, further increasing the cost of doing business in the country.