Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has clarified that the controversial 5% surcharge on fuel was not introduced by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Gatekeepers News reports that peaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday, Oyedele explained that the law backing the surcharge was enacted in 2007 but was never implemented because the government was still subsidising fuel at the time.
“One very important message for people to know is that this surcharge was not introduced by this government. It was introduced in 2007,” Oyedele said.
“And then it was not implemented because the government was subsidising fuel.”
Recent reports suggesting that a fresh 5% levy on petrol would take effect in January have sparked criticism, with many Nigerians describing the timing as insensitive given the prevailing economic hardship. The surcharge mandates a 5% fee on every litre of fuel purchased.
Oyedele, however, stressed that the levy was not part of the tax reform bills signed into law earlier this year by President Tinubu.
“While we were doing this tax reform, it was not even in the original proposal, so it was not like the President proposed it to the National Assembly. But in the process of working on the bills, these issues came up, and then the decision was made that we should not have different agencies collecting taxes,” he explained.
He further noted that the law setting up the surcharge placed its collection under the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), with revenues to be shared: 40% for federal roads and 60% for the states.
“Like I said, it was not implemented,” Oyedele emphasised.
