The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has opposed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval of 15 percent import duty on petrol and diesel, saying it will further deepen economic hardship.

The ADC said Nigerians were already burdened by the high cost of living, warning the President not to push people to the wall.

In a statement on Friday, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, said while the party supports private investments in the energy sector, policies meant to protect such investments must also protect the people and put their interests first.

The party also questioned the rationale behind imposing the levy under the guise of protecting domestic production, pointing out that the Port Harcourt Refinery, cited as a key component of the government’s local refining strategy, collapsed just five months after a $1.5 billion rehabilitation, resulting in a N366.2 billion loss.

The party said the Tinubu administration’s approach to economic reform has remained insensitive to the suffering of the ordinary people, warning that economic growth that condemned the majority to a life of hardship and misery is ultimately destructive.

Part of the statement said, “ADC is concerned by the recent decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to approve a 15% import duty on petrol and diesel. Coming at a time when Nigerians are already suffocating under the weight of Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope Agenda, this fuel tax is both insensitive and misguided, and makes one wonder if the APC government ever considers the pains that its policies have continued to inflict on the people.

“From all indications, this new levy is likely to push the pump price of petrol beyond N1,000 per litre. If this happens, life would become even more unbearable for families, commuters, transporters, farmers, and small businesses already struggling under the weight of fuel subsidy removal without social protection and currency devaluation without safeguards.

“What has become clear is that the Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda is, at best, a trial-and-error system and, at worst, a cynical, self-serving agenda that has no consideration for the ordinary people of Nigeria.

“While the government continues to push the narrative of economic progress, food, rent, and transport—not to talk of school fees—continue to be priced out of the reach of ordinary Nigerians. If the government continues with this latest tax attack, it would further compound the people’s suffering.”

ADC said it opposed, “this ill-conceived import duty and warned the government not to push the people to the wall. We demand that it be reversed immediately. Nigerians deserve a government that plans, not one that panics. A government that cannot run its own refineries has no business taxing those who keep the country running with their sweat and blood.

“President Tinubu must understand that economic patriotism cannot be enforced through pain. While we support private investments in the energy sector, we oppose any policy that could inflict more pain on Nigerians. If the goal is energy security and domestic refining, let there first be transparent investment in local capacity. Until then, any tax imposed to discourage import will only lead to people paying more for imported fuel, which still stands at 60% of supply—a gap that cannot be substituted overnight.” (Daily Trust)