It is illegal for NNPLC to regulate fuel prices, says Falana in response to the current increase

Falana claimed that NNPCL lacks the constitutional authority to set petrol rates.Femi Falana (SAN), a human rights lawyer, has chastised the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for the recent increase in fuel pump prices from roughly 500 to 617 per litre.Nigerians awoke to another increase in fuel prices, also known as Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, following an initial increase in price prompted by President Bola Tinubu's elimination of subsidies on his inauguration day. Though many Nigerians immediately blamed the NNPCL for the overnight price increase, the firm, through its Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, refuted such accusations, attributing the price volatility to market forces. Reacting to the development on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, Falana insisted that NNPCL was responsible for fixing the new pump price, an act he described as illegal and contemptuous.