Manufacturers are intensifying calls for a shift away from fuel import liberalisation, warning that short-term interventions in the downstream petroleum market could undermine long-term industrial competitiveness and deepen structural weaknesses in the economy.
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) said policy attention should instead focus on domestic cost-reduction levers such as power stability, transport fuel efficiency, and access to affordable credit, arguing that these reforms would have a more durable impact on inflation than reopening petrol import channels.
In a statement titled “Fuel Importation Prescription as a Recipe for Deindustrialisation and National Economic Retrogression,” Segun Ajayi-Kadir, the association’s director-general, positioned the debate as a critical inflection point for Nigeria’s industrial future.
MAN said inflationary pressures in Nigeria are increasingly driven by supply-side constraints rather than demand, arguing that structural reforms in production and logistics are needed instead of reliance on imported petroleum products.
Ajayi-Kadir warned that restoring petrol import licences as a long-term stabilisation tool risks reversing gains made in domestic refining and weakening Nigeria’s emerging energy self-sufficiency agenda.
He stated that “fostering a competitive retail market for petrol should not mean resorting to fuel imports,” adding that such a move could distort foreign exchange markets, deter investment in local refining capacity, and weaken progress recorded since the emergence of domestic refineries, including large-scale private investments.
The association instead called for deeper optimisation of the Naira-for-crude framework, arguing that improved execution could strengthen domestic supply security and reduce pressure on foreign exchange demand in the downstream sector.
MAN also emphasised the need for transparent domestic crude allocation mechanisms to ensure consistent supply to local refiners, alongside reduced bureaucratic delays that continue to affect production efficiency.
A key pillar of the group’s inflation containment strategy is accelerated adoption of compressed natural gas (CNG) across commercial transport systems. According to MAN, expanding CNG conversion incentives for logistics and fleet operators could significantly lower transport costs, which remain a major driver of consumer price inflation.
Ajayi-Kadir urged the government to fast-track the Presidential CNG Initiative, including targeted subsidies for commercial fleet conversion, describing it as a more sustainable approach to reducing distribution costs across the economy.
Beyond fuel policy, the association highlighted broader structural constraints affecting manufacturing competitiveness, including levies on imports, limited access to single-digit credit, and inefficiencies in trade facilitation systems such as the National Single Window platform.
MAN argued that easing the four per cent Free on Board (FOB) levy and improving access to low-interest financing would have a more direct impact on production costs than policy measures focused on imported fuel supply.
Energy reliability also featured prominently in the association’s submission, with MAN warning that continued reliance on liquid fuels for industrial power generation is exacerbating operational costs and weakening productivity.
The group called for increased investment in national grid infrastructure and incentives for renewable energy deployment within industrial clusters, noting that stable and affordable electricity remains central to industrial expansion.
Ajayi-Kadir further cautioned that policy uncertainty in the downstream petroleum sector could slow investment momentum at a time when Nigeria is attempting to consolidate gains from recent refining capacity expansions.
“Instead of expanding trade deficits through petroleum imports, we should focus on eliminating supply-side bottlenecks for manufacturers,” he said, highlighting the issue as one of long-term economic strategy rather than short-term price management.
