Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Dairy Hills, Kelvin Emmanuel, has attributed the 15 per cent import tax introduced by the Federal Government to regulatory lapses in enforcing the Petroleum Industry Act.

Speaking on ARISE News on Monday, Emmanuel said the Tinubu administration’s decision aligns with international trade laws and adheres to global standards on trade protection and fair competition.

He noted that weak regulatory oversight created distortions in the oil market, compelling the government to intervene to correct the imbalance.

“The failure of the regulator to enforce the PIA is the reason why the government decided to apply a 15 per cent ad valorem on imports,” he stated.

According to Emmanuel, regulators have failed to enforce quality and standards for imported fuel products, leading to unfair competition in the market.

According to Emmanuel, regulators have failed to enforce quality and standards for imported fuel products, leading to unfair competition in the market.

“I challenged them,” he said, “because they cannot claim to have verifiable certificates of quality based on industry standards and proper testing. The quality of products ultimately determines their price.”

He added that the new executive order on import tax was introduced to curb collusion and anti-competitive practices among fuel marketers.

“If you look at that executive order that the state house has released, you see that it says that it’s to serve against, it’s to deter against what they call collusion. Collusion means that you have marketers who are importing products who come together and say, we’re going to set the price for this product. It’s called oligopoly and it’s anti-competition,” he noted.

Emmanuel commended the Federal Government for the move, describing it as a necessary step toward restoring fairness and balance in the downstream oil sector.

“The 15% is in line with international trade laws. I congratulate the president for coming up with this policy. And it’s also to protect local industries because the competition is not fair,” he said.