Only President Buhari Is Empowered By Law To Fix Fuel Price! By Femi Falana

The Federal Government had been using the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency to fix the prices of petroleum products. But following the recent challenge of the usurpation of the powers of the Minister of Petroleum Resources to fix the pump price by the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), the Federal Government decided to transfer the power to the Petroleum Products Marketing Company. Thus, the PPMC announced a new ex-depot price of N151.56 for PMS last week. In justifying the illegal and insensitive increase in the pump price of fuel the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, had said, “Government is no longer in the business of fixing prices for petroleum products, we have stepped back. Our focus now is on protecting the interest of the consumers and making sure that marketers are not.”

In the same vein, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has publicly confirmed the decision of the Federal Government to hand over the duty of the Minister of Petroleum Resources to the so-called global market forces. Thus, while speaking from Abuja during a web seminar organised by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, last week, explained that all tough measures adopted by the Federal Government were geared towards weathering the current headwinds posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to her, “What that means is that the price of refined products (petrol) will be determined by the global price of crude oil, so the price will keep changing according to how the global market operates.”

With respect, ASCAB insists that decision of the Federal Government to abdicate its responsibility to fix the price of fuel is the height of official impunity, which should not be tolerated in any democratic society. Indeed, it is a reckless violation of section 6 (1) of the Petroleum Act, which provides that “The minister may by order published in the federal gazette fix the prices at which petroleum products or any particular class or classes thereof may be sold in Nigeria or in any particular part or parts thereof.”

In the case of Bamidele Aturu versus Attorney-General of the Federation (unreported suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/591/2009), the Federal High Court declared illegal and unconstitutional the policy decision of the federal government to deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum industry contrary to the combined effect of the provisions of the Price Control Act and the Petroleum Act. According to the learned trial judge, Adamu Bello J. (as he then was): “It seems to me that a combined reading of the provisions of sections 4 and 6 of the Police Control Act and the Petroleum Act leaves one in no doubt that the control of and regulation of prices of petroleum products among others, is a legal duty imposed on the government of the Federation acting through its relevant functionaries i.e Minister of Petroleum Resources and the minister in charge of commerce by the two acts of the National Assembly referred to, so any decision by the government to deregulate the downstream sector as it affects the fixing of price of petroleum products must contend with those enactments. In other words, any decision to deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum industry by not fixing the prices of products while these extant laws remain in force and has not been amended or abrogated, will be in conflict with those enactments an therefore be illegal.”

Since the judgments and orders of the Federal High Court are binding on the Federal Government as well as all authorities and persons in Nigeria pursuant to section 287 (3) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 the decision of the PPMC to increase the price of petrol is contemptuous, illegal, null and void. Therefore, the Federal Government should cancel the illegal fuel hike and call the management of the PPMC to order for usurping the power which is exclusively vested in the Minister of Petroleum Resources. ASCAB is compelled to call on President Buhari to exercise his statutory power as the Honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources to protect the interests of the Nigerian people by fixing “the prices at which petroleum products or any particular class or classes thereof may be sold in Nigeria or in any particular part or parts thereof”.

FALANA (SAN), is
Chairman, Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond

Opinion

AddThis

Original Author

Femi Falana (SAN)

Disable advertisements

from 24HRSNEWS
via 24HRSNEWS

from EDUPEDIA247https://ift.tt/3jNHyry
via EDUPEDIA

Nigerian Academy Of Science Inducts First Female President

The Nigerian Academy of Science has inducted a professor of Parasitology/Epidemiology, Ekanem Ikpi Braide, as its 19th President on Thursday. In a statement issued by Oladoyin Odubanjo, the Executive Secretary of the Academy, Braide is the Academy’s first female President in 44 years of existence. It read, “Braide was a member of the national committee that achieved the laudable feat of guinea worm eradication in Nigeria. “She has a rich professional experience as a researcher and an administrator. In July 2010, Professor Braide was honoured by the President of Nigeria with the award of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) for her contribution to disease control in Nigeria. “She was nominated by the Honourable Minister of Health to serve in the Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Health Sector Response (MEACoC-HSR). “Professor Braide served as Vice-Chancellor, Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) Calabar, Nigeria (2004 to 2009) and as P...

NLNG Signs Letter Of Intent On Delayed Gas Expansion Project

The Nigerian Natural Liquefied Gas LTD has signed a letter of intent for the engineering, procurement and construction of its long held up Train Seven project. In a statement released by the company on Wednesday, it said that the $10bn project will be executed by a consortium of Italian firm Saipem, Japan’s Chiyoda and South Korea’s Daewoo. The statement reads, “The project will form part of the investment of over $10bn including the upstream scope of the LNG value chain, thereby boosting the much needed Foreign Direct Investment profile of Nigeria.” Managing Director of NLNG, Tony Atta, said in 2018 that the Final Investment Decision would be made in the fourth quarter of that year. This did not however, materialize. According to the release, the project will have a four to five-year execution time after the signing of the FID. The project is expected to add an extra 8 million tons per annum of gas to the 22 mtpa currently exported by the company. Oil News AddThis :...

Former Maritime Agency Boss, Buba Galadima, Accuses AMCON Of Witch-hunt After Property Takeover

A former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Agency, Buba Galadima, has accused the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria of witch-hunt after the agency took possession of his business and assets on Tuesday in Abuja. Galadima, an ardent critic of President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that he did not borrow money or have unpaid debt with Unity Bank, which lodged a complaint against him and occasioned AMCON’s move on Tuesday. The properties taken over include House No. 15, Addis Ababa Crescent, Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and House No. 4, Bangui Street, Wuse 2, also in Abuja. Reacting to the situation, Galadima said, “This is an attempt to disgrace and break me down. This is injustice and an attempt to humiliate me. "But I am unbreakable and they can never silence me. They sacked me and over 50 people that sleep in the apartment. "We don’t know where to go. We will remain on the streets. We will remain on the streets until God provi...

EDUPEDIA247

Search This Blog