Notable human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has clamoured for the quick investigation of the Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) scam.
Falana had made this request during Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme, adding that there was no better time to investigate the petrol scam than now.
This development is coming as reports have surfaced that a $6 billion debt owed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to petrol suppliers has worsened the petrol scarcity in country.
The NNPCL had on Sunday, finally admitted the company’s significant debt to petrol suppliers, saying it constituted a threat to the sustainability of petrol supply.
What They’re Saying
“Once the government begins to speak about affordability and sustainability in response to growing queues at filling stations, there are problems,” Falana had quipped.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, (SAN) had also added that there was no full disclosure on the part of the government on subsidy on petrol, adding that Nigeria can’t spend “$2.9bn to fix the refineries” yet the dates for the resumption of production at the refineries have been constantly shifted.
The legal luminary had also threatened to drag all those responsible for the fixing of state-owned refineries to court should they announce another postponement.
Meanwhile, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, (IPMAN), had said the landing cost per litre of petrol has made it impossible for petrol marketers to ship in the essential commodity as was done by the NNPCL.