The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN has declared that it is rejecting the World Bank’s suggestion that Nigeria should open its borders to imported Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, to solve the country’s inflationary crisis.

Director-General of MAN, Mr. Segun Ajayi Kadir, explained in a press release made available to Saturday Telegraph yesterday in Lagos that the World Bank’s suggestion is structurally flawed, counterproductive, and highly detrimental to Nigeria’s industrialisation agenda.

In the statement obtained by our correspondent, Ajayi Kadir pointed out that MAN reiterates its fundamental objection to the initial premise that reinstating petrol import licenses is a viable, long-term strategy to avert an inflation spike, saying “It is not, and should not be considered as an option.”

The MAN DG said in the release titled: “Fuel Importation Prescription As A Recipe For De-Industrialisation and National Economic Retrogression,” that the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has reviewed the April 2026 Nigeria Development Update (NDU) by the World Bank, alongside its subsequent clarification regarding the downstream petroleum sector.

“While we welcome the Bretton Woods institution’s clarification that national energy security is paramount in today’s volatile global climate, we reiterate our fundamental objection to the initial premise that reinstating petrol import licenses is a viable, long-term strategy to avert an inflation spike. It is not, and should not be considered as an option.

“In clear terms, suggesting that Nigeria should open its borders to imported Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to solve an inflationary crisis is structurally flawed, counterproductive, and highly detrimental to Nigeria’s industrialisation agenda. In the long run, it will perpetually constrain Nigeria into the circle of exporting jobs and wealth, and importing poverty.”

Speaking on the MAN position, the MAN DG stressed that the World Bank’s report posited that the suspension of import licenses stifled competition, allowing domestic ex-depot prices to rise, thereby driving up inflation, adding that “This analysis panders to short-term bias and does not take into account the following foundational macroeconomic realities of the Nigerian economy.”

On the FX drain and the major driver of inflation, he noted, “Nigeria’s inflation is fundamentally cost-push and can be aggressively driven by exchange rate volatility. “Therefore, promoting PMS imports means returning to the era of fiercely competing for scarce foreign exchange (FX) to fund foreign refineries. Such depletion of FX depreciates the Naira further.

“A weakened Naira spikes the cost of importing critical raw materials and machinery for domestic manufacturers, triggering a far bigger wave of inflation across all sectors of the economy than a temporary 12 per cent differential in fuel pump prices.”

On the exporting jobs and subsidizing foreign economies, Ajayi-Kadir stated, “For decades, Nigeria exported raw crude only to import refined products; effectively exporting our wealth, jobs, and capital to subsidise the manufacturing sectors of Europe and Asia.

“Halting import licenses and empowering local refining is the most significant structural victory Nigeria has achieved in its energy sector in fifty years. Therefore, reverting to importation is to succumb to economic sabotage.”