‘It Is Illegal, Stop Parading Yourself As Petroleum Minister’ – Falana Tells President Tinubu

A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has submitted that it is illegal for President Bola Tinubu to be parading himself as the Minister for Petroleum.

According to the lawyer, Tinubu’s nomination as a Minister was not sent to the Senate for screening and confirmation as required by Section 147 of Nigeria’s constitution, hence occupying the office by the President is illegal.

Naija News reports he made the submission on Thursday while presenting a keynote address at the launch of the book ‘Dis Life No Balance: An Anthology of Diasporan Nigerian Voices.’

Falana was of the opinion that having the President as the Minister of Petroleum, makes it difficult for the country to hold the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) accountable.

The lawyer added that he agrees with the view of a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido who last week also voiced his disagreement with the decision of the President to occupy the office of the Petroleum Minister.

“Last week, a former Governor of the Central Bank, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi advised President Bola Tinubu against occupying the office of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, saying that such an arrangement makes it difficult for the country to hold the NNPCL accountable.

“He also said the exchange rate needs to be stabilized and we have to address the fundamental questions; why is no money coming in? Why is the NNPCL unable to bring in dollars? Where are the dollars? The Finance Minister cannot tell us because he does not have the monitoring system that reports to him, the Finance Minister can’t tell you how many barrels of petrol that we produce and export.

“It is only the NNPCL that can give the figures; the Ministry needs to know how much oil we produce in a day.

“We paid N11 trillion for 8 years under President Muhammadu Buhari to import fuel, so why are there no investigation in the respect to the colossal some of money and with respect, this is my answer; President Bola Tinubu is not the Minister of Petroleum Resources, as his nomination was never sent to the Senate for Screening as mandatorily required by Section 147 of the Constitution.

“My advice is that the President should not parade himself as a minister of Petroleum like President Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari”, Falana said.