Human rights lawyer and activist, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, has declared that the new fuel price regime from the Federal Government is illegal and lacks statutory power because the body, empowers to take such decision is yet to be constituted by the government.

According to him, the decision by the government was “immoral and insensitivity of the effect of fuel price increase on the people of Nigeria.”

He therefore urged the government to revert to the old pump price.

In a statement made available to Vanguard in Lagos, Falana argued that the increment was contrary to the interest and yearning of Nigerians for the further reduction of the fuel price.


Falana
He noted that the present administration acted contrary to its promises not to remove subsidy in order to inflict undue pains on Nigerians.

Beside, he said, the decision was wrong since the sole body statutorily responsible for fixing fuel price is not yet constituted, adding, the “unilateral decision of the Executive Secretary of the body to fix the pump price at N145 per litre is ultra vires and illegal in every material particular.”

He argued that since the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) empowered to recommend the price of petroleum products has not been reconstituted, such decision was wrong.

He added that: “In view of the illegality, insensitivity and immorality of the price increase the federal government should cancel it, revert to the status quo and consult widely with all relevant stakeholders in the society.”

Falana wondered why the increment when after the Directorate of Petroleum Resources (DPR) recently invited fresh bids for the setting up modular refineries, which resulted to licensing of 22 modular refineries “with combined capacities to refine 1.429 million barrels of crude oil per day. If the policy is genuinely pursued the construction of the refineries ought to be completed within the 9-12 months.

“If such refineries are established in the country the importation of fuel and the fraud associated with it will stop. In the interim, instead of importing oil from Europe and the United States the NNPC should refine crude oil for domestic consumption in neighbouring countries which have functional refineries. After all, Nigeria refines 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day in Cote d’ivoire which is not an oil producing nation.” He said.

He further argued that “If subsidy had been removed over a month ago and the country has been saving $2 billion (from fuel importation and subsidy removal) while the refineries are now working at full capacity Dr. Kachukwu should tell Nigerians the justification for the new removal of fuel subsidy announced by him yesterday.

“The cost elements that make up the N145 are provocative. If the total landing cost of a litre and other charges are fixed at N138 what is the basis of fixing the price at N145? For goodness sake, why should motorists be made to pay NPA/NIMASA charges, within and without storage/ bridging charges etc?”

He therefore submitted that the decision will have virile effect on the people and the economic.

He noted that increasing the price without any public debate or consultation with relevant stakeholders whatsoever the federal government took the Nigerian people by surprise.

chriskosherbal:
I believe as a country we will get through this.

chriskosherbal:
I believe as a country we will get through this.

He argued that since the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) empowered to recommend the price of petroleum products has not been reconstituted, such decision was wrong.

hungryboy:
What is happening is making is a fulfillment of that saying that,

'the devil you know, is better than the angel you do not know.

mrvitalis:
Someone is seeking cheap poblicity

If u feel removal of subsidy is bad I challenge u to a debate
Let's see how sensible u will sound

mrvitalis:
Someone is seeking cheap poblicity

If u feel removal of subsidy is bad I challenge u to a debate
Let's see how sensible u will sound

mrvitalis:
Someone is seeking cheap poblicity

If u feel removal of subsidy is bad I challenge u to a debate
Let's see how sensible u will sound

seunmsg:


Nobody is seeking cheap publicity on this matter let alone, a very revered personality like Femi Falana.

Increasing fuel price to N145 in a country where the minimum wage is N18k is callous, insensitive and criminal. Nigerians are already facing too much economic hardship, increasing the pump price by over 70% is asking the Nigerian people to take too much suffering.

dBard:


Also, 'A leopard doesn't change it's spots'..

I can't pretend that this fuel increase doesn't bother me- it does and it does bother me a lot. I am a proponent of removal of subsidy it's just that I believe that timing is everything. Even a good thing can be bad if improperly timed. Now it's probably the worst time to have done this. I don't know about you but this year has been very tough! I speak as an employer of Labour and also an employee myself and business has been very tough ( again I don't know about you) .
I won't bore you with indicators such as job cuts across banks, FMCGs, telcos and other
manufacturing companies... At last count it's
running into 25,000 job cuts in Lagos alone! But rather I want to zoom into the plight of low earning staff who will have to pay twice the price to transport themselves to work and back, their children's feeding and transportation and ofcourse pay more as tariffs for Electricity which is virtually nonexistent- I gave one of my interns a task to do and he came back the following day and said he couldn't complete it becos they had no electricity...and I couldn't fault him- that is the
plight of many of our people ... But just as one is trying to " gird his economic loins" this bombshell of fuel price increase drops and I was just speechless... Speechless because it means our workers will have to pay more for everything as fuel in Nigeria affects everything -food, clothes, electricity ( Petrol generators) , transportation and ultimately with no corresponding increase in salaries -the very mental and physical health of our people.
I won't say pray for Nigeria, this one pass
prayer...But no doubt if the people are pushed to the wall it's only a matter of time something has to give....
The removal of the subsidy was inevitable but I just wished it was delayed until local refineries were sorted, the budget /money had circulated into the system, power generation was suitably improved so that the effects wouldn't be that harsh on our people....
I just wish.......

Monimatic:

Story for the gods
How do u expect people living on minimum wage and millions of Civil Servants and unemployed citizens to get through this wickedness without any increment in their Income.
Let's be truthful with ourselves for once.
Everything is going up in Nigeria, but Income(Salary/Wages) is not going up...this is WICKEDNESS.