CAPPA hails Senate for passing landmark Sugar Tax Reform Bill,

….demands urgent action from Rep

… says more than 11 million Nigerians currently living with diabetes

By Onu Okorie

Nigeria’s Senate has passed a bill to overhaul the country’s tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), replacing a flat excise duty with a percentage-based levy tied to retail price, a move health campaigners are calling a major victory for public health.

Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa CAPPA, a leading health advocacy group, praised the legislation as “bold and timely,” urging the House of Representatives to act quickly so the bill can reach the president for assent.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Ipalibo Banigo, would scrap the existing flat rate of 10 naira per litre and introduce an ad valorem levy, meaning the tax rises in proportion to the product’s retail price. It also earmarks a share of the revenue for health promotion and disease prevention programmes.

CAPPA’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, welcomed the development but stressed that speed was essential. “Nigeria cannot afford to delay,” he said. “We are in the midst of a preventable public health crisis driven by unhealthy diets and weak regulatory frameworks. Strengthening the SSB tax is not just a fiscal measure, it is a life-saving intervention.”

The urgency, advocates say, is backed by alarming statistics. Nearly one in three deaths in Nigeria is now linked to non-communicable diseases NCDs such as Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. 

CAPPA argued that the current flat-rate tax has been too weak to curb consumption, easily absorbed by manufacturers and eroded by inflation over time. A price-based system, the group said, aligns with World Health Organization guidelines, which hold that health taxes must meaningfully raise retail prices to change consumer behaviour.

The bill’s provision to ring-fence revenue for health initiatives drew particular praise, though CAPPA stressed that transparent management and public oversight would be critical to ensuring the funds are used effectively.

Senator Banigo, who also championed the National Health Act Amendment Bill passed in April 2026 — doubling the Basic Health Care Provision Fund source from one to two percent of consolidated revenue — has emerged as a prominent voice for health-focused legislation in the upper chamber.

The bill now heads to the House of Representatives, where CAPPA is calling for swift concurrence and transmission for presidential assent. “Lawmakers have taken an important step,” the group said. “Now they must finish the job.”