NTCA Report Slams Nigeria on Tobacco Taxes
Nigeria faces fresh scrutiny over alleged breaches of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and failure to implement Economic Community of West African States excise tax directives, according to findings presented at a stakeholder engagement in Abuja.
The Nigerian Tobacco Control Alliance, with support from Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, released the 2025 Nigeria Tobacco Industry Interference Index, revealing the country falls below globally accepted benchmarks on tobacco taxation. The WHO recommends excise taxes account for at least 70 per cent of retail price, while ECOWAS mandates a minimum 50 per cent ad valorem excise tax. Nigeria meets neither threshold, stakeholders said, keeping tobacco products accessible to young people and low-income earners.
The NTCA warned weak tax policies undermine public health objectives and limit government revenue for healthcare. Beyond taxation, the report documented entrenched tobacco industry interference. CAPPA Executive Director Akinbode Oluwafemi described industry involvement as systemic, manifesting through policy manipulation and weak enforcement. A major finding is the normalisation of tobacco industry-led corporate social responsibility initiatives. The British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation was identified as a key driver, funding agriculture, water supply, and education projects with government agencies. These initiatives, often publicly endorsed by officials, were described as strategic tools to build goodwill and influence policy—directly contravening Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC.
The report highlighted continued tobacco company participation in policy processes. During 2024 legislative hearings on proposed amendments to the National Tobacco Control Act, representatives of British American Tobacco Nigeria and affiliated groups actively engaged in debates. Stakeholders including Olawale Makanuola, Zikora Ibeh, and Mary Assunta raised concerns about overlapping mandates. The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment drafted regulations on non-combustible tobacco products—an area traditionally overseen by health authorities. The Standards Organisation of Nigeria continues to include tobacco companies in technical committees.
Transparency gaps featured prominently. Although tobacco control laws mandate disclosure of government interactions with tobacco companies, compliance remains weak. Conflict of interest concerns persist regarding links between serving officials and industry actors, including alleged associations involving a principal officer of the House of Representatives. Despite National Tobacco Control Act provisions prohibiting political donations from tobacco companies, enforcement remains weak within Nigeria’s opaque campaign finance system.
The NTCA observed Nigeria lacks preventive mechanisms against industry interference: no defined procedures for documenting meetings between officials and tobacco companies, and no structured training on Article 5.3 obligations. The alliance recommended urgent reforms: adoption of a robust tobacco tax regime aligned with WHO and ECOWAS standards; a complete ban on tobacco industry CSR activities within public institutions; exclusion of industry actors from policymaking; a transparent system for disclosing all interactions; immediate enforcement of the 60 per cent pictorial health warning requirement per the 2019 National Tobacco Control Regulations; and strengthened conflict-of-interest safeguards.