Stakeholders from the finance, beverage manufacturing, and health sectors sharply disagreed on Thursday over the Senate’s proposal to raise excise duty on carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs).

The differences emerged at a public hearing organised by the Senate Committees on Finance and Customs to review a bill introducing a percentage-based excise levy per litre of SSBs, intending to curb excessive sugar consumption in Nigeria.

Sponsored by Senator Ipalibo Harry Banigo, the bill seeks to amend the Customs, Excise, Tariffs, etc Act, earmarking revenue from excise duty on non-alcoholic, carbonated, and sweetened beverages for health programmes and infrastructure.

The amendment is designed to make Nigeria’s taxation system more responsive to health needs by directing part of the SSB tax towards primary healthcare and preventive initiatives.

At the public hearing chaired by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sani Musa, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, strongly supported the bill, calling it a “progressive, evidence-based approach to public health financing.”

“This is an opportunity to secure a sustainable funding stream for the health of 230 million Nigerians,” he said, referencing global examples such as the Philippines, where similar measures have improved healthcare systems and expanded universal health coverage.

“We commend the Senate for proposing a bill that seeks to increase the excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and earmark part of the revenue for health promotion.”

“This measure demonstrates strong political will, aligns fiscal policy with public health goals, and provides sustainable financing for prevention programmes, critical steps toward achieving universal health coverage.”

Pate urged lawmakers to raise the excise rate from N10 per litre to at least 20 per cent of the retail price, following World Health Organisation recommendations, and suggested at least 40 per cent of the revenue be reserved for diet-related disease programmes.

He warned that failure to act could result in a much heavier national burden of diseases like diabetes and hypertension over the next decade. “Prevention is far more cost-effective than cure,” he stressed.

The Nigeria Cancer Society and the Diabetes Association of Nigeria also aligned with the health minister in endorsing the proposed amendments.

However, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), the Ministry of Finance, and the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) opposed the measure.

MAN’s representative, Adeyemi Folorunsho, cautioned that increasing the excise tax could lead to job losses in manufacturing and disputed any link between SSB consumption and rising rates of diabetes or obesity, citing a lack of supportive data.

“Contrary to erroneous belief, Nigeria has the lowest rate of sugar consumption in the world, which is 8.3 million kilogrammes against the 22.1 million kilogrammes that it’s supposed to be,” he argued, urging lawmakers to adopt a balanced and “win-win” approach.

The Ministry of Finance, for its part, maintained that the Federal Government should retain freedom in directing fiscal policy.

Supporting groups, including the Nigerian Cancer Society, the Healthy Food Policy Vanguard, CISLAC, and the National SSB Tax Coalition, argued that increased taxation would prevent hundreds of thousands of diabetes cases, reduce premature deaths, and save billions in healthcare costs.

In closing, Senator Musa promised stakeholders that the final draft of the legislation would reflect fairness, transparency, and public interest, and that all submissions would be considered in the committee’s report to the Senate. (The Sun)