Femi Falana, a human rights attorney, has asserted that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) lacks the legal authority to establish or modify the price of gasoline.
Falana insists that President Bola Tinubu has the authority to determine gasoline prices because there is no substantive Minister of Petroleum Resources.
On May 31, NNPCL announced a price adjustment for gasoline at its retail locations.
Garba Deen Muhammad, the spokesman for NNPCL, cited “market realities” as the cause for the pricing modification.
Falana stated in an interview with Channels Television on Friday that it was illegal for NNPCL or so-called “invisible market forces” to set the price of gasoline.
“The NNPC has transformed into a limited liability corporation. Now known as NNPC Limited. Thus, NNPCs in the oil industry, such as Total, Exxonmobil, and Shell, cannot announce price increases for petroleum products. This responsibility lies with the government.
“Only the government has the authority to set the prices of petroleum products in Nigeria. You have a price control act and at that time the petroleum act, now PIA,” Falana said.
