Femi Falana, a prominent human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has strongly criticized the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) for the recent fuel price hike, asserting that the corporation lacks the constitutional authority to set petrol prices.
In a statement issued on Wednesday as the chairman of the Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), Falana emphasized that the pricing of petrol should be determined by market forces.
He argued that the NNPCL’s decision to raise the pump price of petrol to N617 from N500 was a direct violation of the rule of law.
Falana cited President Bola Tinubu’s inauguration address on May 29, 2023, wherein he pledged to govern the country based on the principles of the rule of law.
Consequently, the lawyer contended that the NNPCL’s action contradicted this commitment and the law itself.
The lawyer recalled a significant legal case, Bamidele Aturu v Minister of Petroleum Resources (Suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/591/2009), where the Federal High Court ruled that the government must always set the price of petroleum products across Nigeria, basing its judgment on the Petroleum Act, Price Control Act, and the Constitution.
The specific reliefs granted by the Federal High Court in that case were as follows:
1. A declaration that the policy decision of the Defendants to deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum industry by not fixing the prices at which petroleum products may be sold in Nigeria is unlawful, illegal, null, void, and of no effect, violating section 6 of the Petroleum Act, cap P.10, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
2. A declaration that the policy decision of the Defendants to deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum industry by not fixing the prices at which petroleum products may be sold in Nigeria is unlawful, illegal, null, void, and of no effect, violating section 4 of the Price Control Act, cap P28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
3. A declaration that the policy decision of the Defendants to deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum industry by not fixing the prices at which petroleum products may be sold in Nigeria is unlawful, illegal, null, void, and of no effect, conflicting with Section 16(1)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, which mandates the Government to control the national economy for the welfare and happiness of citizens on the basis of social justice and equality.
4. A declaration that the policy decision of the Defendants to deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum industry by not fixing the prices at which petroleum products may be sold in Nigeria makes the freedom of movement guaranteed in section 41 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 illusory for the Plaintiff and Nigerians in general, and is, therefore, illegal, unconscionable, and unconstitutional.
5. An order restraining the Defendants, their agents, collaborators, and anyone involved from deregulating the downstream sector of the petroleum industry or failing to fix the prices of petroleum products, as mandated by the Petroleum Act and the Price Control Act.
Despite the ongoing appeal by the Federal Government against the Federal High Court’s judgment, Falana pointed out that the NNPCL has assumed the role of determining and fixing petroleum product prices, which he deemed illegal and contemptuous as the judgment had not been overturned by a higher court.
Falana also criticized the NNPCL for acting as a monopoly in importing and distributing petrol, which he argued was contrary to the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021.
He noted that the NNPCL, now operating as a limited liability company regulated by the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, should not have the power to set petroleum product prices in any part of Nigeria following the liberalization of the petroleum sector.
Therefore, he urged for immediate measures to prevent the NNPCL from further setting petroleum product prices in the country.
