The Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has strongly criticised the federal government’s decision to impose a 5 percent tax on all refined fossil fuel sales, including petrol and diesel.
Obi argued that the levy, coming at a time when Nigerians are grappling with record inflation and high transport costs, reflects poor prioritisation by the Bola Tinubu administration. He insisted that government policies should reduce hardship rather than increase it.
The former Anambra governor pointed out that President Tinubu only recently celebrated hitting revenue targets, making the new tax both unnecessary and insensitive.
“Nigerians will pay a 5% tax when buying their everyday fuel or diesel at a time when millions can hardly even afford the cost of transportation. Mr. President just yesterday boasted that Nigeria has met its revenue target for the year. Yet instead of easing hardship, the government imposes more burden on Nigerians,” Obi said in a post on X.
He further highlighted the failure of the government’s alternative energy plan, noting that compressed natural gas (CNG), which was touted as a cheaper option, has doubled in price.
“Even the so-called alternative, CNG, has become unaffordable, rising from about N230 to N450, while the promised subsidies on the CNG have quietly vanished,” he lamented.
Obi urged the government to channel resources toward education, healthcare and poverty reduction rather than new taxes. “If our revenues are truly ‘excessive’ as claimed, should they not first be used to fund education, healthcare, and pulling Nigerians out of poverty? Why tax citizens who cannot even breathe anymore?” he asked.
According to him, true leadership is measured by compassion and a commitment to ease the burden of citizens, not by policies that worsen their struggles.
