The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has called on the House of Representatives to reject the proposed Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax Bill, warning that the legislation could undermine manufacturing growth, threaten jobs, and worsen the business environment.
In a statement issued on Sunday, CPPE Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Muda Yusuf, expressed concern over the Senate’s passage of the bill despite opposition from private sector stakeholders, particularly the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.
According to Yusuf, the proposed legislation comes at a time when manufacturers are already grappling with rising production costs driven by high energy prices, elevated interest rates, exchange rate volatility, logistics challenges, weak consumer purchasing power, and multiple taxes and levies.
He argued that imposing an additional excise tax on non-alcoholic beverages would further increase cost pressures across the value chain and erode the competitiveness of the sector.
“The bill is ill-timed, insensitive to prevailing economic realities, and inconsistent with the Federal Government’s commitment to reducing the tax burden on businesses,” he stated.
CPPE noted that the food and beverage industry remains one of the largest contributors to Nigeria’s manufacturing sector, supporting millions of jobs through linkages with agriculture, packaging, logistics, retail trade, hospitality, and distribution.
The organisation warned that additional taxation on the industry would likely lead to higher production costs, increased consumer prices, reduced demand, lower capacity utilisation, and job losses across the value chain.
Yusuf further contended that the bill runs contrary to ongoing fiscal and tax reforms aimed at improving the investment climate. He noted that the 2026 fiscal policy framework already provides for an excise duty of ₦10 per litre on non-alcoholic beverages, adding that introducing another layer of taxation would create policy inconsistency and increase regulatory uncertainty.
“Investors thrive on predictability. Frequent additions to the tax burden send the wrong signal to both existing and prospective investors,” he said.
While acknowledging the need to tackle rising cases of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases, CPPE argued that sugar taxes alone are unlikely to deliver significant public health benefits.
The organisation maintained that factors such as poor dietary habits, excessive consumption of carbohydrate-rich foods, physical inactivity, inadequate health awareness, and genetic predisposition are more significant contributors to diabetes and related illnesses in Nigeria.
Instead of imposing additional taxes, CPPE advocated for alternative measures including nutrition education, public health awareness campaigns, promotion of physical activity, healthier food choices, improved preventive healthcare systems, and urban planning that encourages active lifestyles.
The group described such interventions as more sustainable and less harmful to economic activity than what it termed “punitive taxation” targeted at a major manufacturing subsector.
CPPE therefore urged members of the House of Representatives to withhold concurrence to the bill, arguing that it would penalise production, discourage investment, threaten employment, and impose additional costs on consumers already facing economic hardship.
“The economy needs relief, not additional taxation; support for production, not policies that weaken enterprise; and reforms that create jobs, not measures that put them at risk,” Yusuf said.
He added that Nigeria could pursue both public health objectives and economic growth through policies that promote healthier lifestyles while protecting investment, jobs, and industrial development.
According to the CPPE, the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax Bill fails to strike that balance and should be rejected in its entirety.
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