Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf, has warned that suspension of the proposed 15 per cent import duty on petroleum products poses a significant threat to the country’s energy security, its industrial future, as well as refining investments, among others.
  
Also, Partners for National Economic Progress (PANEP) faulted the suspension, arguing that it would undermine local refining. Speaking through a policy brief entitled:‘Safeguarding Nigeria’s Domestic Refining Capacity and Energy Security: Policy Imperatives Following the Suspension of the 15 per cent Import Duty on Petroleum Products’, he noted that Nigeria was at a decisive moment in its efforts to secure energy independence, deepen industrialisation and reduce vulnerability to external shocks. 
  
According to him, the Federal Government’s suspension of the import duty holds profound implications for domestic refining, investment confidence, macroeconomic stability and the long-term competitiveness of the petroleum downstream sector. 
  
He stressed that the import duty was introduced as an industrial protection instrument designed to support emerging private refineries, promote backward integration and industrial development, ensure a level-playing field for domestic producers, conserve foreign exchange, protect jobs and stimulate local value addition, reduce exposure to global supply instability and encourage long-term investments in refining and petrochemicals. 

He revealed that it was on this premise that the Dangote Refinery and modular refinery operators made multi-billion-dollar commitments based on policy stability and the assurance of an environment that rewards local production. 
  
He regretted that suspending the duty undermines this protective framework and exposes domestic refiners to inequitable competition from importers, who benefit from vastly superior international conditions.
  
Worried that the suspension poses a threat to domestic refining investments, he noted that local refiners operate within a high-cost environment shaped by expensive energy and self-generation, infrastructure gaps, logistics bottlenecks, high capital costs, security-related risks, and inefficiencies in ports and transport systems.
  
These structural disadvantages, he said, make parity with imported products impossible without the use of protective measures. 

He further warned of risks to national energy independence, emphasising Nigeria’s long-term development priorities, which include domestic refining, national self-sufficiency in petroleum products and strategic energy security.
  
Reverting to heavy import dependence, he said, reopens vulnerabilities to global price volatility, geopolitical disruptions and supply insecurity-the same conditions that previously collapsed public refineries and created a fiscally ruinous subsidy regime.

PANEP said the decision was a setback for Nigeria’s local refining ambition.
  
In a statement issued by its co-convener, Olamide Odumosu, the civil rights group argued that the initial tariff was a “wise and courageous” policy aligned with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which seeks to free the downstream sector from years of dependence on fuel imports. 
  
The group dismissed claims that Nigeria lacks sufficient refining capacity to meet domestic demand, insisting that the Dangote Refinery could not only supply the nation’s needs but also store enough product to sustain the country for 90 days in the event of disruptions. 
  
It said fears that the tariff could trigger fuel scarcity or price hikes were “false and unfounded.” The statement accused petroleum importers of resisting reforms that threaten their interests, alleging collusion among players in the oil supply chain, including unions and regulatory agencies.