The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has cautioned that the Federal Government’s suspension of the 15% import duty on petrol and diesel could undermine Nigeria’s long-term energy security, discourage investment, and jeopardize major refining projects, including the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and modular refineries.
In a policy brief released on Sunday, CPPE Chief Executive Officer Dr. Muda Yusuf described the suspension as a “short-term measure that jeopardises long-term national interests,” urging the government to reinstate the import duty to protect domestic production.
The 15% import duty was initially introduced on October 21, 2025, to safeguard emerging private refineries, encourage backward integration, reduce reliance on imported fuel, and conserve scarce foreign exchange. The policy aimed to level the playing field for local producers operating in a high-cost environment with weak infrastructure, expensive financing, and logistical challenges.
While many private sector organisations, including the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, supported the duty as a strategy to bolster domestic refining, the government suspended it to alleviate short-term pressure on fuel prices. Yusuf warned that this move undermines investor confidence, noting that major players committed billions of dollars to projects based on policy stability.
“Removing the duty exposes domestic refiners to inequitable competition from importers benefiting from superior international conditions,” Yusuf said. He added that increased dependence on imports could worsen fuel inflation, strain the naira, and deepen balance-of-payments deficits, while reintroducing vulnerabilities that previously hindered state-owned refineries.
The CPPE highlighted that domestic refining supports broader value chains, including petrochemicals, plastics, logistics, engineering, and fabrication. It stressed that unrestrained fuel importation exports jobs and economic opportunities abroad. The brief also cited global examples, noting that major economies protect strategic sectors such as steel, energy, and pharmaceuticals, arguing that extending similar protection to Nigeria’s refining industry is both “logical and necessary.”
Yusuf dismissed concerns that protecting local refineries would raise fuel prices, stressing that domestic refining reduces long-term costs and exposure to global supply disruptions. The CPPE called for targeted measures such as quota-based importation, reduced port charges, tax credits, moderated foreign exchange access, guaranteed crude supply for domestic refiners, and improved pipeline and storage infrastructure.
The organisation urged the government to adopt predictable, multi-year industrial protection under the Nigeria First Policy and closely monitor production capacity, pricing, and import volumes. Yusuf concluded:
“The Dangote Refinery and emerging modular refineries are transformative national assets. Safeguarding them aligns squarely with Nigeria’s long-term economic and strategic goals. Short-term measures that compromise energy security, industrialisation, and economic sovereignty must be avoided.”
This warning underscores the tension between short-term fuel affordability and long-term energy strategy as Nigeria seeks to build a resilient domestic refining sector.