Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has raised concerns over the increasing cost of living and the arbitrary hike in petrol prices, attributing these factors to a noticeable reduction in the number of vehicles on Nigerian roads.
Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, shared his observations during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Sunday. He emphasized the urgent need to expose the “monumental fraud” plaguing Nigeria’s fuel importation system.
His remarks come in response to a recent statement by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), which revealed that its significant debt to suppliers is jeopardizing the nation’s fuel supply. The NNPCL admitted on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle that this financial burden is exerting severe pressure on its operations and threatening the stability of fuel distribution.
Falana criticized the NNPCL and the Federal Government for withholding crucial information from the public. “How many people have bought a car in the last one and a half years, even second-hand cars?” he asked. “The number of vehicles on the road has decreased, yet we were told that during the boom years, the NNPCL was subsidizing 68 million litres of fuel per day.”
He questioned the logic behind maintaining the same level of fuel subsidy despite the ongoing economic challenges, including widespread poverty and fuel scarcity. Falana also recalled a previous challenge by the Comptroller General of Customs, who questioned the NNPCL’s claims about fuel being smuggled out of the country during a Senate public hearing.
Falana expressed skepticism about the NNPCL’s narrative on fuel smuggling, suggesting that the logistics required to smuggle the reported volumes are implausible. “Smugglers would need about 2,000 petrol tankers to move the amount of fuel the NNPCL claims is being stolen. This is the time to expose the monumental fraud that has characterized the importation of fuel,” he concluded.
