Key Points
- Finance Minister Wale Edun signed the 2026 Fiscal Policy Measures on April 1, cutting duties across 127 tariff lines covering drugs, rice, vehicles and industrial inputs.
- Nigerian pharmacists welcomed the pharmaceutical tariff reductions but demanded a presidential sector committee led by registered pharmacists, plus tighter regulation on counterfeits.
- Rice farmers and auto sector players raised alarms, warning that cheaper imports would undercut local producers already squeezed by rising input costs and capital exposure.
Nigeria’s federal government has cut import duties on pharmaceutical products, rice and fully assembled vehicles as part of its 2026 Fiscal Policy Measures, a sweeping trade overhaul signed by Finance Minister Wale Edun on April 1.
The policy replaces the 2023 framework and adjusts duties across 127 tariff lines, but industry players are anything but unified on whether it helps or hurts.
Rice imports now attract a 47.5 percent duty, down from 70 percent, while broken rice falls to 30 percent. Tariffs on fully assembled passenger vehicles, including SUVs and station wagons, drop to 40 percent from the 70 percent rate that held under the 2015 policy. Antimalarial drugs carry a 20 percent duty under the revised schedule.
A new excise duty regime and a green tax surcharge are set to take effect from July 1, 2026. Importers who opened Form M before April 1 have a 90-day grace window to clear goods at the old rates.
Pharmacists: good move, but the real work hasn’t started
Ayuba-Tanko Ibrahim, president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, described the tariff reduction as a step in the right direction while making clear it was not enough on its own.
“A drop in duties on drugs and pharmaceutical products is quite laudable,” he said. “In normal circumstances, this should signpost a drop in prices of these products and promote accessibility to drugs and healthcare.”
Ibrahim pressed the government to set up a presidential committee on the pharmaceutical sector and insisted it be led by a registered pharmacist.
He said counterfeit drugs and unregistered pharmacy premises remained an open wound that import duty adjustments would not heal, and called for stronger support for local production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and vaccines.
Ambrose Ezeh, national chairman of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, backed that position. He argued the sector’s problems were technical enough to require professional coordination and urged the government to consult the PSN before appointing anyone to any reform panel.
Jonah Okotie, chief executive of Engraved Pharmacy, offered a more granular reading of the numbers. He noted that the 20 percent antimalarial tariff was unchanged from the 2023 policy, meaning patients would see no relief there.
He did flag one concrete win: breathing apparatuses and gas masks dropped from 5 percent duty to zero, a change he said should push prices on those devices lower.
Rice farmers: this is a blow, not a break
Mohammed Magaji, president of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, made his displeasure plain. With fertilizer and agrochemical costs already climbing, he said cheaper rice imports would simply drain whatever motivation remained for local farmers to plant.
“It discourages the Nigerian farmers from going to the farm, honestly speaking, because there is no good price, there is no market,” Magaji said. He called on the government to reverse course and give local producers a fighting chance.
Jeremiah Olanrenwaju, chief farmer and team lead at JetFarmsNG, went further. He said the duty cut on bulk rice from 70 percent to 47.5 percent would make imported rice significantly cheaper and push domestic producers into loss territory at harvest.
He urged farmers to scale back expansion plans this season and pressed the government to introduce input subsidies and guaranteed offtake mechanisms before the growing season deepened.
Auto sector wants answers before it picks a side
In the automobile industry, reactions came wrapped in questions. Oscar Odibo, a professor of marketology and marketing communications consultant, acknowledged that the cut in vehicle tariffs was welcome news for consumers.
But he warned it could quietly undo years of investment in local assembly plants, where operators have sunk millions of dollars and employed thousands of young Nigerians.
Odibo urged the government to reduce tariffs on auto spare parts rather than finished vehicles, arguing that approach would do more for local manufacturing capacity and job creation.
Ifeanyi Agwu, managing director of BKG Exhibitions, which organizes the Lagos and Abuja International Auto shows, said the industry needed clarity before it could respond properly. He wanted confirmation on whether spare parts tariffs had also been adjusted and whether existing local assembly agreements remained intact.
