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The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has taken credit for the Federal Government's decision to suspend its controversial 15 percent import duty on petrol and diesel.
A statement from its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, released on Friday, indicated that the suspension validated the party's warning that the levy would exacerbate the country’s economic difficulties.
The ADC also criticized President Bola Tinubu's administration as “confused,” accusing it of operating a government characterized by trial and error, marking what it described as the seventh policy reversal in two years.
Abdullahi recalled that on October 31, the party warned the government that implementing a new tariff on imported fuel would intensify the hardships caused by the removal of subsidies, currency depreciation, and rising living costs.
The opposition party, while commending the administration for its decision to reverse the policy, insisted that this incident exposed a recurring pattern of impulsive decisions followed by embarrassing reversals.
“As we noted in our statement responding to the proposed tariff, the ‘new levy is likely to push the pump price of petrol beyond N1,000 per litre.
“If this occurs, life would become increasingly unbearable for families, commuters, transporters, farmers, and small businesses that are already struggling under the burden of subsidy removal without social safety nets and currency devaluation without protections,” the ADC stated.
According to the party, it also questioned why the government would consider taxing imported fuel without first ensuring local production capacity, adding that it was quite notable that these were the same reasons the administration later cited for its decision to backtrack.
