Femi Falana, SAN, a human rights attorney, condemned Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited for raising the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), or petrol, at the pump from approximately N500 to N617 per litre.
Falana was responding to the NNPCL’s apparent overnight price increase on Tuesday, which marked the second impromptu review of the price of petrol in less than two months after it was priced about N185 in May.
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The Senior Advocate of Nigeria underlined in a statement on Wednesday that President Bola Tinubu declared in his inauguration address in May that his administration will administer the nation in accordance with the rule of law.
He cited a Federal High Court judgement which held that by the combined effect of the Petroleum Act, Price Control Act and the Constitution the Federal Government “must always fix the price of petroleum products sold across Nigeria.”
According to him, the Federal Government was dissatisfied with the judgement of and filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal.
“Even though the appeal has not been determined the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited has usurped the power of the Federal Government to determine and fix the prices of petroleum products in the country,” Falana said.
“It is undoubtedly clear that the action of the NNPCL is illegal and contemptuous since the judgment of the Federal High Court on the subject matter has not aside by a higher court.”
