JUST IN: TUC threatens nationwide strike over planned 5% petroleum tax

The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has warned the Federal Government to withdraw its proposed five per cent tax on petroleum products or face a nationwide strike.

In a statement issued on Monday in Lagos, the labour body described the plan as an act of “economic wickedness” that would worsen the hardship already confronting Nigerians.

The tax, introduced under the Nigeria Tax Administration Act signed by President Bola Tinubu on June 26, 2025, mandates a five per cent surcharge on every sale or supply of refined fossil fuels, whether locally produced or imported. The levy, however, excludes renewables, kerosene, cooking gas, and compressed natural gas.

Reacting to the development, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria warned that the measure could force its members out of business. Similarly, stakeholders in the extractive sector, including Extractive360, argued that the tax—scheduled to take effect from January 1, 2026—would further raise petrol pump prices, already averaging N950 per litre, up from N197 when Tinubu took office in May 2023.

TUC President, Festus Osifo, and Secretary General, Nuhu Toro, noted that workers were still reeling from the effects of fuel subsidy removal, inflation, and the naira’s depreciation, stressing that the new levy would inflict more pain.

“To introduce another levy on petroleum products is to deliberately compound suffering, cripple businesses, and push millions deeper into poverty,” the statement read. “Government cannot continue to use Nigerians as sacrificial lambs for its economic experiments.”

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The union warned that failure to reverse the policy would compel it to mobilise workers and citizens for “total nationwide resistance,” including a possible strike.

TUC also urged civil society groups, student unions, professional bodies, faith leaders, and market associations to unite in rejecting the policy.

“Enough is enough. Nigerians deserve economic justice, not endless punishment,” the statement concluded.