The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has dismissed reports that the Federal Government plans to introduce a fuel tax, describing them as “fake news”.
Oyedele said the government had no plan to impose the levy, and accused some online platforms of distorting his remarks during an interview with ARISE News.
In a post on X on Tuesday, the minister said, “In my interview with ARISE News, I was clear: a fuel tax is not on the table.”
He added, “Having removed the fuel subsidy, it would be insensitive for government to impose a fuel tax at this time.”
The minister’s clarification followed reports suggesting that the government intended to introduce a fuel tax once economic conditions improved and Nigerians’ incomes could carry the additional burden.
Rejecting the reports, he said, “Some online reports have since twisted this message into a claim that the government plans to introduce fuel taxes. That is FAKE NEWS.”
He urged Nigerians to ignore what he described as misleading headlines and to watch his remarks on the issue.
The interview was conducted on the sidelines of the 2026 annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Bangkok, Thailand. Oyedele explained that imposing a fuel tax while petrol was still subsidised would have been counterproductive, since the government would effectively be paying the tax itself.
He also argued that the priority should be to grow incomes faster than prices rise, rather than to concentrate on suppressing prices.
The minister maintained that introducing a fuel tax under the prevailing economic conditions would add to the burden of Nigerians who are still grappling with the effects of subsidy removal.
