The Lead Story
Pumped-Up Pressure: Labour vs. the 5% Fuel Surcharge
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) just cranked the heat on Abuja’s tax plans, and it’s more than a mild simmer. In a fiery statement, the labour umbrella group warned that the newly restated 5 percent surcharge on petrol and diesel could spark a nationwide strike if the policy isn’t ditched before its slated January 2026 start.
“Government cannot continue to use Nigerians as sacrificial lambs,” TUC president Festus Osifo thundered, according to Business Post Nigeria. The levy, tucked into June’s Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025, comes on the heels of subsidy removal and a free-falling naira, hardly a crowd-pleaser.
The details are straightforward but politically explosive. The law requires fuel marketers to collect an extra 5 percent at the pump, sparing cleaner fuels like LPG and CNG. While supporters say it simply harmonizes an old charge under the 2007 FERMA Act, critics smell fresh pain. The TUC’s Lagos press note, echoed by Punch, brands the plan “economic wickedness” and orders state councils to be “strike-ready.”
Adding nuance, tax-reform czar Taiwo Oyedele clarified that the surcharge “isn’t new” and still needs a finance minister's order before kicking in, a point he made in a Q&A. Yet that hasn’t cooled public anger, or the prospect of empty fuel pumps should labour pull the plug.
The reaction was swift: fuel-station owners warn of closures, while civil-society voices argue Nigerians “deserve relief, not more burden.” With petrol already averaging ₦950 per litre, any extra kobo is political TNT.
Around the Tax World
• e-Invoicing Goes Live: The FIRS certified eTranzact as a service provider for its nationwide e-invoicing rollout, part of Tax Administration 2.0, promising tighter compliance and “structured digital invoices” across B2B and B2C trades (Punch).
• Single Window Countdown: Finance Minister Wale Edun says the National Single Window trade portal will launch in Q1 2026, digitising customs, port and regulatory processes to curb leakages and boost revenue (TV360 Nigeria).
• Sin Taxes for Health: Advocacy group CAPPA applauded federal plans to earmark excise revenue from alcohol, tobacco and sugary drinks for healthcare funding, calling it “a decisive opportunity” to tame non-communicable diseases (The Guardian Nigeria).
Tax Stat of the Day
₦950, the average pump price of petrol nationwide, up 382 percent since May 2023, a figure labour leaders say makes any 5 percent surcharge “intolerable” (Punch).
Looking Ahead
All eyes now turn to the Minister of Finance, who must issue a gazette before the fuel levy can bite. If that order drops without tweaks, the TUC says a strike “is firmly on the table.”