Since Ministers Have Not Been Appointed Only Tinubu Can Decide Fuel Prices -Says Femi Falana

 The former President of the West Africa Bar Association (WABA), Femi Falana had said that only the president of Nigeria Bola Tinubu can decide the pump price of petrol as Ministers have not been appointed 

Femi Falana made this disclosure on June 2, 2023, on Channel Television's Politics. He stated that NNPC like Total, Exxon Mobil, and Shell operating in the oil industry, cannot announce an increase in the prices of petroleum that the power is vested in government 

"The NNPC has metamorphosed into a limited liability company. It is now NNPC Limited. To that extent, NNPC like Total, Exxon Mobil, and Shell operating in the oil industry, cannot announce an increase in the prices of petroleum products. That duty is vested in the government and that is what I mean [saying their action is illegal

“So, you ask the NNPCL: ‘Where have you got the powers to fix the prices of petroleum products, or the price of petrol, this time around, from N185 thereabouts to N540?’ So, how? The clarification is important,” the legal luminary said

“No,” he maintained, “the visible market forces cannot under the Nigerian Consitution and under the PIA fix the prices of petroleum 

“Under the current situation, we have found ourselves – since ministers have not been appointed and the President is running the country – only the president [Tinubu] can so decide for now because you have the Price Control Act. You have the PIA

“There is no provision in our law for market forces to determine the prices of any product in the country