A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Delta State, Ayiri Emami, has decried approval for the implementation of a 15 per cent ad valorem import duty on petrol and diesel.

He disclosed this in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Thursday.

This comes as the Federal Inland Revenue Service secured the approval of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to impose a 15 per cent import duty on petrol and diesel to protect domestic refineries.

President Tinubu had since ordered the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, to immediately begin enforcing the tariff.

Reacting, Emani said Nigerians would ultimately be at the receiving end of the new tariff.

He urged President Tinubu to suspend the 15 percent import duty on petrol and diesel to bring relief to Nigerians.

He said, “No, anybody advising Mr President to impose a 15 per cent tax on petroleum right now is not doing him any good.

“This kind of policy will not hurt marketers — it will hurt ordinary Nigerians. Whatever tax you put on petroleum goes straight back to the people on the streets. Nigerians are already hungry and struggling.

“If I were to meet Mr President, I would tell him plainly — and I’ve told people in my community the same thing. You see, in my area, especially among those of us who live by the river and depend on fishing, the cost of fuel affects everything. When you buy fuel, it determines whether you can even go out to fish. It’s not that the fish are gone — it’s that we can’t afford to reach them anymore.

“So anybody bringing up this idea of a 15 per cent tax, I will not support it. This is my government, and I know we need money, but there are other areas to look into.

“Whatever you do in petroleum pricing always goes back to the masses.

“For me, that 15 per cent should be kept aside until the government provides more relief to Nigerians. Even after removing the fuel subsidy, we haven’t seen much positive reflection. Things are still hard. So why add another burden?

“Some people don’t care about Mr President or what he’s going through—they just want to create more problems. Those are my honest opinions on the matter,” he stated.