Chief Olisa Agbakoba, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Monday says the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is not a regulatory commission and thus has no business fixing the price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol in Nigeria.
While the NNPCL said it loaded petrol at Dangote Refinery at N898 per litre, the Dangote Refinery described the statement by the NNPCL as misleading and aimed at derailing the progress achieved towards alleviating energy insufficiency and insecurity, which had plagued the country for decades.
Speaking in an interview with TheScrutiny, Agbakoba argued that under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), NNPCL is now a private limited company.
According to him, the NNPCL has sidelined and is doing the job of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) which has the primary responsibility of regulating and overseeing the upstream petroleum sector in Nigeria.
“We often overlook the underlying conceptual problems because it is a diagnosis of those problems that will lead us to the answer of the possibilities of free flow of petroleum. In the context of that analysis, one must be prepared to say that the price might not be the issue”.
“There are two things here – price and availability. So, I think the context is to determine what is the legal and regulatory framework relating to the oil and gas industry? The first point is to note that the oil and gas industry by Section 44 of the constitution is a natural resource that belongs to the federation, Nigerians”.
“The other point is that under Section 16 of the constitution, it is for the government to regulate the process by which our natural resources and general economic policies is driven. The problem I have and what is causing all the confusion is the challenge around what exactly is the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA)? The act clearly makes NNPC a private operator but NNPC seems not to be a private operator, it seems to be a regulator. If not, why will NNPC be setting prices?”
“I think the matter will be easier to resolve if we have a clear space for policy makers who are the regulators and a clear space for the private sector actors who are the ones producing fuels like Dangote. There will be no interplay of regulatory and private sector forces”.
“So, why is NNPC setting the price? I don’t think that is the duty of the NNPC. Under PIA, it is recognised that the NNPC is a private limited company. As such, it has been incorporated as a private limited company under the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA)”.
“So, if NNPC is a private limited company, why is it still setting prices? Why is it the only one that regulate the total monopoly over crude oil? That is not the job of a private sector actor. So, the NNPC seems to be doing the job of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC)”.
“NNPC is duplicating the work and side-lining the regulatory commission. When they do that, you have the sort of confusion that we are witnessing now.” Agbakoba said.
