The National Union of Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) has urged the House of Representatives to withhold concurrence on the Customs, Excise Tariffs (Consolidation) Amendment (CETA) Bill 2025, warning that the proposed levy on soft drinks could worsen pressure on manufacturers and threaten jobs.
In an open letter addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, and co-signed by NUFBTE president Garba Dankama, the union said passing the bill at this time would impose an additional financial burden on Nigerian workers and the manufacturing sector.
The bill proposes replacing the existing specific tax of N10 per litre on soft drinks with a percentage-based levy calculated from the retail price of the products.
Dankama said workers could not withstand another “poorly designed” tax burden, warning that the proposal could worsen the already difficult operating environment for manufacturers.
He said the food, beverage and tobacco industries were facing severe challenges, adding that the proposed legislation could further weaken the industrial base and threaten the livelihoods of workers.
“Capacity utilisation across manufacturing has declined sharply as producers contend with prohibitively high borrowing costs, rising energy and logistics expenses, persistent constraints in foreign exchange access, and weakened consumer purchasing power,” Dankama said.
He added that several production lines had been scaled back or shut down entirely.
“The NAD sector, which anchors hundreds of thousands of jobs across farming, haulage, distribution, and retail, cannot absorb an additional tax escalation without triggering a wave of further closures, retrenchments, and value chain collapse,” he said.
The union president expressed confidence that the leadership of the House of Representatives would protect workers’ interests while supporting the manufacturing sector through the current economic challenges.
According to him, workers have already borne the effects of fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange reforms, while their incomes have failed to keep pace with rising costs of transportation, food, housing and other essential needs.
“The sector needs room to adjust to the current economic realities and remain sustainable. An aggressive percentage-based tax at this time could place a serious strain on the industry, with consequences for investment, jobs, and livelihoods,” Dankama said.
“We should not put further pressure on an industry that provides employment and supports the livelihoods of so many Nigerians.”
He also warned that a percentage-based levy would increase pressure on producers whose operating costs remain exposed to fluctuations in global commodity prices and geopolitical uncertainty.
According to him, the proposed tax could lead to higher product prices, weaker consumer demand and further factory closures.
Dankama further argued that taxing a product category said to account for only five per cent of national sugar intake would not deliver significant public health benefits.
He warned that the proposed levy could instead push consumers towards cheaper, unregulated alternatives while damaging jobs and livelihoods.
The union president said the livelihoods of more than one million Nigerians could be affected by the additional tax burden, given the sector’s links with farming, transportation, distribution and retail.
