By Jane Okafor, Abuja
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has hailed the Federal Government’s suspension of fuel import licences and support for local refining as Nigeria’s most significant energy sector breakthrough in five decades.
In a statement titled “Fuel Importation Prescription as a Recipe for Deindustrialisation and National Economic Retrogression,” MAN warned against policy directions influenced by the World Bank, cautioning that such recommendations could erode Nigeria’s fragile industrial base.
The association argued that sustainable economic growth, a stronger naira, job creation, and lower inflation are more achievable when domestic industries are protected and prioritised.
“We should reject any policy that ultimately exports jobs and imports poverty,” MAN stated.
It dismissed the World Bank’s April 2026 Nigeria Development Update, which suggested reopening borders to imported Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to ease inflation, describing the proposal as flawed, counterproductive, and harmful to Nigeria’s industrialisation drive.
MAN Director-General, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said while the association acknowledged the Bank’s emphasis on energy security, it strongly opposed the idea of reinstating fuel import licences.
“It is not, and should not be considered, a viable long-term solution,” he said.
Ajayi-Kadir warned that renewed fuel importation would drag Nigeria back into intense competition for scarce foreign exchange, weaken the naira, and inflate the cost of importing raw materials and machinery—ultimately worsening inflation across sectors.
He described the halt of import licences as a “structural victory,” stressing that reversing the policy would amount to economic sabotage.
According to MAN, lasting price stability can only come from strengthening local refining capacity, which shields the economy from global supply shocks and volatile freight costs.
The group called for practical, homegrown solutions, including full implementation of crude oil sales in naira to local refineries, greater transparency in domestic pricing, and uninterrupted crude supply to refiners.
It also urged accelerated rollout of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Initiative, noting that transport logistics remain a major driver of inflation.
“Shifting from PMS and diesel to locally sourced CNG is the ultimate inflation-buster,” Ajayi-Kadir said.
MAN further highlighted the need to fix the national grid and promote off-grid renewable energy for industrial clusters to cut dependence on costly petroleum products.
The association concluded that Nigeria must prioritise self-sufficiency in energy, warning that fuel importation would undermine local refining, destabilise the foreign exchange market, and stall recent gains driven by domestic refineries.
“It is not in our national interest to rely on imported fuel when we have the capacity to meet our needs and even export,” the statement added. “No, we should not.”
