President Bola Tinubu has approved a 15 percent ad-valorem import duty on diesel and premium motor spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol.
The approval was contained in a letter dated October 21, 2025, where Damilotun Aderemi, the Private Secretary to the President, conveyed the directive to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
According to the letter, the decision followed a request by the FIRS seeking the president’s consent to apply a 15 percent duty on the cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) value of imported petrol and diesel to align import costs with domestic realities.
With this approval, the implementation of the new import duty is projected to increase the pump price of petrol by approximately N99.72 per litre.
The latest development has led to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) announcing that it has begun a detailed review of the country’s three petroleum refineries, with a view to bringing them back online.
In an update shared on his official X handle on Wednesday, NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, said the company is exploring multiple strategies to revive the facilities, including seeking technical equity partners to either “high-grade or repurpose” the refineries.
“The NNPCL remains optimistic that the refineries will operate efficiently despite current setbacks,” Ojulari stated in the post titled “Update on Our Refineries.”
Despite several years of turnaround maintenance efforts and an estimated $3 billion spent on revamping the facilities, Nigeria’s refineries have remained largely unproductive.
The 60,000-barrel-per-day section of the Port Harcourt refinery operated briefly before shutting down again, while the Warri refinery has been mostly inactive despite official claims of resumption. The Kaduna refinery, on the other hand, has yet to begin operations.
What you should know
Nigeria has spent a total of N4 trillion on fuel imports in just the first six months of 2025.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) figures, the country spent N2.3 trillion on fuel imports in Q2 2025, following N1.76 trillion recorded in Q1. This brings the half-year total to N4 trillion.
For perspective, in the whole of 2024, Nigeria reported N15.4 trillion in fuel import bills, a figure that strained foreign reserves and contributed significantly to naira volatility.
According to the NBS data, Nigeria imported N208.76 billion worth of petrol from the ECOWAS region in Q2 2025.
The figure shows the continued importance of regional trade routes in meeting domestic fuel demand, despite Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to boost local refining through facilities such as the Dangote Refinery.
In July, Nigeria, for the first time, imported more crude oil from the United States than it exported, marking a historic reversal in petroleum flow between the two nations.
