The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Tag: Oyedele

  • Nigeria To Introduce Fuel Taxes When Economy Stabilises – Oyedele

    Nigeria To Introduce Fuel Taxes When Economy Stabilises – Oyedele

    Precious Nwonu, Enugu

    Nigeria will introduce taxes on petroleum products when the economy stabilises and household incomes improve enough to accommodate the additional costs, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has said.

    Oyedele explained that the Federal Government would prioritise the completion of ongoing economic reforms, stabilisation and the restoration of economic growth before implementing the proposed taxes.

    He disclosed this during an interview with ARISE News on the sidelines of the 2026 International Monetary Fund and World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Thailand.

    The minister said introducing fuel taxes immediately after the removal of petrol subsidies would place an additional burden on Nigerians already grappling with rising living costs.

    According to him, the government must first improve economic conditions and strengthen household purchasing power before considering additional taxes on petroleum products.

    Oyedele noted that several countries around the world impose taxes on fuel, with the tax component accounting for between 20 and 80 per cent of pump prices in some markets. He added that many African countries have between six and 10 different taxes on petroleum products.

    He, however, maintained that Nigeria must consider its current economic realities before adopting similar measures.

    The minister argued that improving citizens’ incomes was more important than attempting to keep prices artificially low, noting that efforts to suppress prices had not proved sustainable.

    He said the government’s priority was to ensure that incomes grew faster than prices, expand the middle class and improve the general standard of living.

    Oyedele added that revenue generated from the proposed fuel taxes would be earmarked for road infrastructure and the development of strategic fuel reserves to help cushion the impact of future price shocks.

    He explained that the reserves could provide a buffer against disruptions in the petroleum market, allowing the government to temporarily reduce or suspend the taxes when necessary to ease pressure on consumers.

    The minister said more than 50 countries had used tax reductions to respond to fuel market disruptions, but Nigeria lacked a similar option because it did not previously have the proposed taxes in place.

    Oyedele also assured Nigerians that the government would not introduce the taxes secretly, stressing that the law requires the relevant order to be published in the Federal Government’s official gazette before it can take effect.

    He said the government would ensure that Nigerians understood the reasons for introducing the taxes and the benefits they were expected to deliver.

    The minister reiterated that the proposed measures would only be implemented when economic conditions improved sufficiently to enable households to bear the additional costs.

  • FG Begins Payment of N18bn Severance Benefits to 2,700 Ex-Nigeria Airways Workers

    FG Begins Payment of N18bn Severance Benefits to 2,700 Ex-Nigeria Airways Workers

    Precious Nwonu, Enugu

    The Federal Government has commenced the payment of N18bn in outstanding severance benefits to 2,700 former employees of the defunct Nigeria Airways, more than 20 years after the airline was liquidated.

    The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this on Friday during a press briefing at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja.

    Oyedele said 2,100 former workers covered by batches one to seven had received their payments, while another 600 beneficiaries in batches eight and nine had been cleared for payment.

    He said the payments amounted to N18bn in outstanding benefits owed to the 2,700 former employees.

    “For more than two decades, following the liquidation of Nigeria Airways, many former employees have waited for their outstanding severance benefits. Some have grown old waiting. Some have sadly passed away, leaving their families to pursue what was legitimately due to them,” Oyedele said.

    According to the minister, the payment followed President Bola Tinubu’s directive to resolve the long-standing obligation.

    Oyedele acknowledged that the settlement could not make up for the lengthy delay but said the government had decided to address inherited obligations rather than allow them to remain unresolved.

    “We recognise that no payment today can fully compensate for more than two decades of waiting, but it is important that government confronts these long-standing obligations rather than allowing them to remain unresolved for another generation,” he said.

    The minister explained that the exercise was part of the Federal Government’s broader effort to clear verified inherited liabilities, including outstanding obligations to pensioners and indigenous contractors.

    He said beneficiaries of the Nigeria Airways payments underwent extensive verification, including biometric capture and validation of their personal and banking details, to guard against fraudulent claims.

    Oyedele added that further verification would be conducted in cases involving outdated records, incorrect bank details and deceased beneficiaries whose next of kin or estates still needed to complete the required procedures.

    On concerns over the impact of inflation on the value of the benefits after more than two decades, the minister said the government was paying the amounts contained in the documented and verified claims.

    He acknowledged that inflation had significantly eroded the value of the money but said the settlement did not provide for inflation adjustments.

    Oyedele explained that the payments were being made in batches to ensure that beneficiaries whose claims had been verified did not have to wait while other outstanding cases were being processed.

    He said the benefits covered former employees across different categories and were not limited to either junior or senior staff.

    For beneficiaries who had died before receiving their entitlements, the minister said payments would be made to their documented next of kin or other eligible beneficiaries after the necessary legal procedures were completed.

    Oyedele also disclosed that the Federal Government had settled outstanding debts owed to more than 12,000 indigenous contractors as part of efforts to reduce accumulated obligations.

    He said the government initially prioritised smaller contractors with verified claims of N50m or less before extending the exercise to contractors owed up to N100m.

    Larger claims running into billions of naira, he explained, could be handled separately through negotiations and instruments such as promissory notes.

    According to the minister, the approach was designed to support small businesses that depend on government payments to meet salary obligations and other immediate financial commitments.

    Oyedele warned contractors against paying commissions or offering inducements to government officials to facilitate the settlement of verified claims, describing such demands as illegal.

    He said the government was also taking steps to prevent the accumulation of fresh unpaid obligations by making budgets more realistic and ensuring that capital expenditure commitments had identifiable funding sources.

    “We will do our best to ensure that the accumulated obligations of the past do not repeat themselves,” the minister said.

    Oyedele apologised to the former Nigeria Airways workers for the prolonged delay in settling their entitlements, stressing that the payments were owed benefits and not favours from the government.