CISLAC calls for stronger tobacco tax regime to curb smoking in Nigeria

The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, has called on the urgent need for Nigeria to strengthen its tobacco excise tax system to reduce tobacco consumption and protect public health.

Speaking at the Annual Tobacco Tax Summit and Launch of the Tobacco Excise Tax Simulation Report for Nigeria, the Executive Director of CISLAC, Mr. Auwal Rafsanjani, explained that taxes on harmful products like tobacco was not merely for revenue generation, but to discourage consumption and safeguard the health of citizens.

“Consumption taxes on tobacco and alcohol are meant to discourage use and protect public health. Economists refer to them as sin taxes because they target harmful products,” he said.

Citing statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), Rafsanjani noted that tobacco use remains one of the world’s biggest public health threats, accounting for more than seven million deaths annually and causing long-term illnesses.

He emphasized that reducing the affordability of tobacco products was key to curbing their consumption, particularly among the poor and young people.

According to him, higher tobacco prices had been proven to discourage new smokers and reduce smoking prevalence among youth.

While acknowledging Nigeria’s progress since 2018 with the adoption of a mixed excise tax system for cigarettes, Rafsanjani pointed out that the country still falls short of the ECOWAS and WHO-recommended levels of tobacco taxation.

To support evidence-based advocacy, CISLAC, in partnership with the University of Cape Town’s Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products and Tax Justice Network Africa, recently validated a Tobacco Excise Tax Simulation Report for Nigeria, which was officially launched at the summit.