Group urges FG to increase tariff on beverages

In the statement, CAPPA referenced data showing that Nigeria’s health indicators are in dire straits, with cases of NCDs, malnutrition, infectious diseases, and maternal mortality being some of the worst in the world…

A non-governmental organization, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa has urged the Federal government to increase tariff on beverages to curtail the alarming rate of sugar consumption in the country

In a statement on Monday by the group’s Media and Communication Officer, Robert Egbe, to mark 2025 World Health Day, he said the
Executive Director, CAPPA Akinbode Oluwafemi lamented the dire state of the Nigeria healthcare system with cases of malnutrition, obesity, infectious diseases, and maternal mortality

The statement reads in part: ” A severe danger is posed on public health due to excessive consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSBs).

“The government needs to adopt WHO’s recommendation that countries which requires countries to raise taxes on SSBs to increase the retail prices by at least 20 percent in order to reduce consumption and improve public health to preventing obesity and diet-related NCDs”

CAPPA specifically urged the government to increase the current excise duty rate of N10 per liter on non-alcoholic, carbonated, and sweetened beverages in the country to at least N130 per liter, emphasising that such an adjustment is essential to achieving the intended health benefits of the policy.

In the statement, CAPPA referenced data showing that Nigeria’s health indicators are in dire straits, with cases of NCDs, malnutrition, infectious diseases, and maternal mortality being some of the worst in the world.

“The federal government allocated ₦2.48 trillion to the health sector in the 2025 budget, which is 5.18 per cent of the total ₦47.9 trillion budget.

While this is an improvement compared to the 2024 budgetary allocation, it falls significantly short of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation of 13 per cent and the African Union’s Abuja Declaration target of 15 per cent. The Abuja Declaration, signed in 2001, commits African Union member states to allocate at least 15 percent of their national budgets to the health sector”

“Every day, many parents – misled by the ultra-processed food industry – inadvertently make food choices high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) that harm their children’s health,”

“This industry aggressively promotes the excessive consumption of nutrient-poor, calorie-dense products – that it presents as foods – thus exacerbating Nigeria’s already troubling prevalence of non-communicable diseases like obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular conditions, and placing additional strain on the country’s healthcare system” it said

The group noted that this year’s reflection provides an opportunity for the government to review and strengthen its healthy food systems so it can guarantee Nigerians’ access to nutritious food.

It said “today, as the global community acknowledges the occasion of World Health Day (WHD), Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has renewed its call for governments at all levels to prioritise adequate healthcare funding and the adoption of healthy food policies to curb the exposure of Nigerians to unhealthy diets, which are aggressively promoted by the sugary drinks and ultra-processed industry and are worsening the country’s non-communicable diseases (NCDs) burden”

Meanwhile, the CAPPA commended the Nigerian government and public health authorities, for launching the National Guideline for Sodium Reduction, urging them to view such policies as low-hanging fruits with high yields in the race to protect public health.

“The Guideline, a policy designed to tackle excessive salt consumption and reduce the growing burden of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases in the country, was launched in Abuja on March 26, 2025, by the federal government and its local and international partners, including Resolve to Save Lives, Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), Network for Health Equity and Development (NHED) and CAPPA” the statement added