The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has thrown its support behind the Federal Government’s new 15 per cent tariff on imported petroleum products, saying the policy is critical to reviving domestic refining and reducing dependence on foreign fuel.
NECA’s Director General, Wale Smatt Oyerinde, made the remarks on Friday during a televised interview, describing the tariff as a necessary corrective step for years of neglect in Nigeria’s petroleum refining sector.
According to Oyerinde, imposing the tariff on imported fuel — while exempting locally refined products — will create a competitive advantage for domestic producers and encourage investment into the sector.
“We support the policy of a 15 percent tariff on imported petroleum products — not on locally produced ones,” he said, adding that the country must accept responsibility for its past mistakes. “If the 15 percent tariff is the ‘punishment’ we must bear collectively for our recklessness in allowing our four refineries to collapse, then so be it.”
He argued that Nigeria’s position is not unusual, pointing to global economies that currently adopt similar policies to protect their local industries.
“Even developed nations like the United States are introducing protectionist policies to support their industrial base. We don’t have much excuse not to do the same,” Oyerinde noted.
The Federal Government recently communicated approval of the tariff increase to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, directing both agencies to begin implementation.
Although some stakeholders have criticized the move — warning it could push up the landing cost of imported fuel and potentially affect pump prices — NECA insists the tariff aligns with broader economic reform goals.
Oyerinde revealed that the Organised Private Sector (OPS) has reviewed the policy and sees it as an opportunity to expand local production across multiple sectors, not just petroleum.
“We’re also looking beyond petrol and diesel,” he said. “To ramp up production in the manufacturing and real sectors, this kind of policy should extend there too. Why do we import what we can produce locally?”
He added that NECA is proposing a timeline that will give manufacturers room to adapt and transition to local sourcing.
“If we have to give businesses a one- or two-year moratorium to integrate backward, then fine — but let’s reduce the tendency to import.”
Oyerinde stressed that Nigeria must prioritise policies that reduce dollar demand, strengthen domestic production capacity, and protect local industries from being edged out by cheaper imports.
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