‘Stop Parading Yourself as Petroleum Minister’

Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has told President Bola Tinubu to stop parading himself as the Minister of Petroleum Resources.

Falana argued that the President’s role as Minister of Petroleum contravened Section 147 of the Constitution, cautioning Tinubu not to imitate former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari.

The senior lawyer spoke on Thursday in Abuja at the public presentation of a book titled “Dis Life No Balance: An Anthropology of Nigerian Diaspora Voices,” co-authored by Professors Farooq Kperogi and Moses Ochonu, and Dr Osmund Agbo.

According to Falana, this became necessary because the President was not screened by the National Assembly before assuming the role.

He claimed that Tinubu’s role as Minister of Petroleum Resources makes it difficult for the country to hold the NNPCL accountable.

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

“We paid N11 trillion in eight years under President Muhammadu Buhari to import oil or fuel. Why has there been no investigation? 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 the minister of petroleum resources like President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Muhammadu Buhari,” he said.