Former presidential candidate on the Social Democratic Party platform, Adewole Adebayo, has faulted President Bola Tinubu’s recent approval of a 15 per cent import duty on refined petroleum products, saying the president may soon tax the air Nigerians breathe.

On Thursday, Mr Adebayo described the import duty as an “anti-people decision”, branding the approach as grossly exploitative.

“President Tinubu is a clever tax collector,” the politician noted on Channels TV. “He wants to collect taxes from you for everything, including the oxygen tax, very soon. If you’re not careful, yes, the air we breathe. Just give him time; he’s going to get there.”

The presidency did not immediately reply to requests seeking comments on the allegation.

Mr Tinubu earlier approved a 15 per cent ad-valorem import duty on petrol and diesel imports into Nigeria, noting it was meant to protect local refineries and stabilise the downstream market. However, the policy had been criticised on the grounds that it might lead to an increase in pump prices.

Mr Adebayo, who decried the policy, said, “It is a trend in the new Tinubu. Tinubu, who used to be in SDP, following Abiola everywhere doing Hope 93, has practically changed to the side of the money people. They see you as a customer, not a citizen. If you have twins and triplets in your house, Tinubu is going to think of twins tax or ‘multiple childbirth tax’. He’s just thinking of how to collect more money. It’s wrong.”

The former presidential candidate criticised Mr Tinubu’s administration for abandoning the country’s refineries, accusing the president of being responsible for Nigeria’s inability to meet its local consumption needs.

“You are the reason why we cannot meet our domestic consumption. The president is the minister of petroleum. What kind of chaotic system is this? We gave you refineries to manage. You appointed yourself minister of petroleum. We spent billions on turnaround maintenance. You are not making the refineries work.

“You are the reason why we are importing now. Because you are importing, you went from ‘I’m not paying subsidy, we are net zero, nobody pays subsidy’, you now want to surcharge me for your inefficiency. Am I the reason why refineries are not working?” the SDP chieftain stated.