The national leadership of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria(TUC) on Monday urged the Federal Government to cancel the planned five per cent tax on petroleum products, saying failure to do so will see the union embarking on nationwide strike.
The Federal Government introduced a five per cent surcharge on petrol and diesel sales, a measure that has sparked debate among citizens, businesses, and policy analysts.
The levy is part of the newly signed Nigeria Tax Administration Act, one of four tax reform bills signed into law by President Bola Tinubu on June 26, 2025.
The regulation requires that the surcharge be applied to every supply or sale of refined fossil fuel products in Nigeria, whether locally produced or imported, with the money collected at the point of sale. Cleaner fuels such as renewables, household kerosene, cooking gas and compressed natural gas are exempt.
The Labour Centre, which stated this through a press statement issued in Lagos on Monday, said it outrightly rejects the Federal Government’s planned 5% tax on petroleum products, describing the proposal as an act of economic wickedness against already overburdened Nigerians.
Speaking in the statement, TUC’s national president, Festus Osifo, and its Secretary General, Nuhu Toro noted that Nigerian workers currently undergoing pains from the removal of fuel subsidy will not be subjected to further “pains” to be inflicted by the new tax rule.
“Let it be clear: workers and citizens are still reeling from the pains of subsidy removal, skyrocketing fuel prices, food inflation, and a collapsing naira.
“To now introduce another levy on petroleum products is to deliberately compound suffering, cripple businesses, and push millions of citizens deeper into poverty.
“Government cannot continue to use Nigerians as sacrificial lambs for its economic experiments. Instead of offering relief, jobs, and solutions, it has chosen to further squeeze citizens dry. This is unacceptable!
“The TUC hereby urge the Federal Government to immediately stop this anti-people’s plan in its entirety. Failure to do so will leave us with no option but to mobilise Nigerian workers and the masses for a total nationwide resistance. Strike action is firmly on the table if the government dares to ignore this warning and go ahead to implement this policy.
“Accordingly, the TUC directs all its state councils, affiliates, and structures nationwide to remain vigilant, watchful and wait for further communication that may culminate in a decisive action should government dare to further ignore the collective will of the people.
“We also call on our allies, civil society organisations, professional bodies, student unions, market associations, faith leaders, and all patriotic Nigerians to stand in solidarity with us in this struggle.
“Together, we must resist policies that seek to further impoverish citizens and mortgage our future.
“Enough is enough. Nigerians deserve economic justice, not endless punishment.”
The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, said the law, if enforced could cause its members to close businesses.
Stakeholders in the extractive sector such as Extractive360 who opposed the plan to impose a 5% tax on petroleum products beginning from January 1, 2026, said that the move will further increase the pump price of petrol which most Nigerians depend on for transport and energy.
They noted that with the average national pump price of petrol at N950 per litre, about 382 per cent from N197 per litre when President Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023, Nigerians will be impoverished further.
