CPPE Urges House of Reps to Reject Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax Bill

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has expressed grave concern that the Senate has proceeded with the passage of the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax Bill despite overwhelming objections from private sector stakeholders, led by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and called on the House of Representatives to reject the proposed Bill.

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, warning that the legislation could undermine manufacturing growth, threaten jobs, and worsen the business environment.

Yusuf highlighted that the proposed legislation comes at a time when manufacturers are grappling with elevated energy costs, high interest rates, exchange rate pressures, logistics challenges, weak consumer purchasing power, and multiple taxes and levies.

The CPPE boss added that the imposition of an additional excise tax on non-alcoholic beverages would further erode industrial competitiveness and weaken investment prospects.

“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 affirmed 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, which make it a powerful engine of inclusive economic activity.

CPPE warned that any additional tax burden on the industry would inevitably increase production costs, raise consumer prices, weaken demand, reduce capacity utilisation and threaten jobs across the value chain.

It noted that at a time when the economy needs stronger industrial growth, this Senate proposal risks becoming a tax on production, investment and employment.

Yusuf also contended that the bill runs contrary to ongoing fiscal and tax reforms aimed at improving the investment climate.

He explained 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 added.

While acknowledging the need to tackle rising cases of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases, CPPE argued that available evidence suggests that sugar taxes, on their own, deliver limited public health benefits.

The organisation upheld 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.

CPPE advocated for alternative measures instead of imposing additional taxes, and recommended 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 designated such interventions as more sustainable and less harmful to economic activity than what it termed “punitive taxation” targeted at a major manufacturing subsector.

CPPE called on 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.

Yusuf declared that at a time when businesses and households are struggling with unprecedented cost pressures, 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.

“Public health objectives and economic growth are not mutually exclusive. Nigeria can pursue both through policies that promote healthier lifestyles while protecting investment, jobs and industrial development. The Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax Bill fails this test and should therefore be rejected in its entirety,” Yusuf emphasized.