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Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta state, Chief Ayiri Emami, has said that the approval for the implementation of a 15 per cent ad-valorem import duty on petrol and diesel brought into Nigeria would inflict more pains on Nigerians.
Emami, who is also the Ologbostere of Warri, stressed that the 15 per cent tax would not affect the petroleum marketers but would impact more on ordinary Nigerians.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) which already secured the approval of President Bola Tinubu, said the tax was to protect domestic refineries and promote stability in the downstream oil sector.
It was against this background that Tinubu ordered FIRS and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to immediately begin enforcing the tariff.
Speaking with journalists yesterday in Abuja, Emami, who is also the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of A & E Group, a company with investments in oil and gas, construction and haulage, said ordinary Nigerians would ultimately be at the receiving end of the new tariff.
His word: “Anybody advising Mr. President to impose a 15 per cent tax on petroleum right now is not doing him any good.
“This kind of policy will not hurt marketers — it will hurt ordinary Nigerians. Whatever tax you put on petroleum goes straight back to the people on the streets. Nigerians are already hungry and struggling.”
“If I were to meet Mr. President, I would tell him plainly — and I’ve told people in my community the same thing. You see, in my area, especially among those of us who live by the river and depend on fishing, the cost of fuel affects everything. When you buy fuel, it determines whether you can even go out to fish. It’s not that the fish are gone — it’s that we can’t afford to reach them anymore.
“So anybody bringing up this idea of 15 per cent tax, I will not support it. This is my government, and I know we need money, but there are other areas to look into. Whatever you do in petroleum pricing always goes back to the masses.
“For me, that 15 per cent should be kept aside until the government provides more reliefs to Nigerians. Even after removing fuel subsidy, we haven’t seen much positive reflection. Things are still hard. So why add another burden?
“Some people don’t care about Mr. President or what he’s going through — they just want to create more problems. Those are my honest opinions on the matter,” Emami said.
