Falana: New Fuel Price Immoral, Buhari's Government Hijacked

Femi Falana. Photo credit:Premium Times

Nigeria’s leading human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, said neo-liberal ideologues, with intent to punish the people, appear to have hijacked the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

He expressed his fears in a statement following the sudden increase in the price of petrol, wondering why the administration that promised to keep the fuel subsidy has suddenly revised itself in policy somersault.
Falana said the increase was not only immoral, illegal, but also insensitive, coming at a time Nigerians are going through difficult times and the defiance of the government in reducing the 60 per cent increase in power tariff, despite a court order.

The senior advocate of Nigeria drew attention to another  subsisting court order barring the Federal Government from deregulating the downstream sector. The action he said was filed by the late  lawyer, Bamidele Aturu.
“In total defiance of the said order of the federal high court the federal government has deregulated the downstream sector of the petroleum industry. In justifying the illegal policy, Dr. Kachikwu claimed that “PPPRA has informed me that it will be announcing a new price band effective today, 11th May, 2016 and that the new price for PMS will not be above N145 per litre, ” Falana said.
Besides, Falana wondered what has gone wrong in government calculations on the cost of fuel when in January, it reduced the pump price to N86, with the  Minister of state for petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu boasting  that the country had done away with the spectre of fuel subsidy and was now saving $1billion monthly.
The lawyer also argued that the increase of the price to N145  was illegal in view of the fact that the PPPRA board has not been constituted.
“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. 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.”

Source: Sahara Reporters