Nigeria's African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused President Bola Tinubu's administration of sitting on a five percent fuel tax it plans to activate only after the 2027 election is decided, according to a report by Guardian Nigeria. The party's national publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the legal groundwork for the levy is already in place, since Tinubu signed it into the Nigeria Tax Act back in June 2025, and argued the government is simply waiting for a second term to begin before switching it on.
Abdullahi's remarks followed comments from Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele on the sidelines of an International Monetary Fund gathering in Bangkok, where he indicated the tax would be introduced once economic conditions allow rather than immediately. The ADC has pointed to that open-ended timeline as proof the measure is being held in reserve for political rather than economic reasons, with the party floating Tinubu's prospective May 2027 inauguration as the likely activation date.
A new fuel levy would land on a country still adjusting to the 2023 removal of the petrol subsidy, a decision that sent pump prices sharply higher and became a defining flashpoint of Tinubu's first term. The ADC warns a further increase, however it is timed, risks reopening that wound for households already squeezed by a high cost of living.