The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana (SAN) condemned the unbundling of the NNPC. Falana said in a statement on Thursday,
“It is pertinent to point out that the reforms being carried out by the
NNPC GMD are illegal in every material particular. Section 2 of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Act stipulates that the affairs of the
corporation shall be conducted by the Board of Directors of the body. To
that extent, it is the board of the corporation that is saddled with
the responsibility to carry out the reorganisation of the body.
“The board of the NNPC shall consist of
the Minister of Petroleum Resources; Permanent Secretary, Federal
Ministry of Finance; the managing director of the corporation and three
other persons appointed by the President. The minister shall be the
chair of the board. By virtue of Section 3 of the Act, the managing
director of the NNPC shall be the chief executive and shall be
responsible for the execution of the policy of the corporation and the
day-to -day running of its activities.”
According to him, since the board has
not been reconstituted by President Muhammadu Buhari, the minister has
usurped its functions and has been running the affairs of the NNPC like a
sole administrator, adding that the combination of the posts of GMD of
the NNPC and minister of state had compounded the illegality.
Falana stated, “It is an anomalous
situation whereby the minister, as the chairman of the NNPC board, is
supervising his own activities as the GMD of the NNPC. Whereas the GMD
is required to carry out the decisions of the board chaired by the
minister, Dr. Kachukwu has become the executor and regulator of the
affairs of the corporation. The Federal Government should take advantage
of this crisis to put an end to the incongruity.
“In the same vein, the body established
by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency Act to regulate the
supply and distribution of petroleum products in the country is equally
run by a sole administrator contrary to the provisions of the enabling
law.
“Whereas the agency shall have a board
of 26 members, including the representatives of the Nigeria Labour
Congress, Trade Union Congress and the trade unions in the oil and gas
industry, the body is run singlehandedly by the executive secretary.
Despite the several calls by the Nigeria Labour Congress and other
stakeholders, the Federal Government has not deemed it fit to
reconstitute the board of the PPPRA.”
The lawyer added that with the perennial
fuel crisis in the country, a litre of petrol was currently selling for
between N200 and N300 contrary to the official price of N86.50 fixed by
the minister pursuant to section 6 of the Petroleum Act.
“In an atmosphere of impunity, petroleum
products are sold even though there is the Petroleum Equalisation Fund
set up under the law to reimburse marketing companies for any loss
sustained by them as a result of the sale of petroleum products at
uniform prices throughout the country. Apart from the occasional sealing
up of a few filling stations by the Department of Petroleum Resources
for selling above the official price, the Petroleum Equalisation Fund
has never been cautioned by the Federal Government,” Falana said.
He asked the President to direct
Kachukwu to put on hold the so called reorganisation of the NNPC with a
view to presenting it to the board of the NNPC whenever it is
reconstituted, and called for the separation of the posts of the GMD of
NNPC and the petroleum minister as envisaged by the NNPC Act.
“Furthermore, the board of the PPPRA
should be reconstituted, while the PEF should be made to discharge its
statutory duty of ensuring uniformity in the prices of petroleum
products throughout the country,” he stated.
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