BY OUR REPORTER
Human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Femi Falana, has said it is illegal and against the spirit of the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, for the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to fix petrol prices.
In a statement on Thursday, Falana said the action by the petroleum company contravened the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Falana faulted the NNPCL’s claim that the market has been deregulated and market forces now determine petrol prices, because “the NNPCL fixed the price of fuel refined by the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited last month. The so-called market forces were not allowed to fix the price”.
“Yesterday (Wednesday), the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited announced new pump prices of fuel refined by the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company. Once again, the so-called market forces were not allowed to fix the new prices of fuel.
“The decisions of the NNPCL to fix the prices of imported fuel and locally refined fuel are illegal, nullity and void as they contravene the provisions of section 205 of the Petroleum Industry Act which stipulates that the prices of petroleum products shall be determined by market forces,” he said.
On Wednesday morning, Nigerians woke up to another shocker when NNPCL retail outlets adjusted the pump price of petrol in Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
In Lagos, many NNPCL outlets sold a litre of petrol for ₦998, about ₦150 higher than the initial price of ₦855. The sudden increase resulted immediately into panic buying by motorists and transporters leading to confounding queues all over Lagos filling stations.
Private major and independent stations immediately followed suit as they also adjusted their pump prices to reflect the new regime with some selling as high as ₦1,050 in many parts of Lagos.
In Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, the situation was not significantly different as NNPCL retail outlets hiked the price from ₦897 to ₦1,030.
The fresh increase followed the September 2, 2024 increase by the NNPCL when it jacked up the price per litre of petrol from ₦568 to ₦855, sparking outrage.
