Re: Fuel Subsidy and 2015 budget

The closest any of these legislations comes to it is Section 5 of the Price Control Act which, unbelievably,  actually provides that the pump price of petroleum products should consist of the cost of importation/production , the importer or producer’s profit and – in the case of imported fuel – the customs duty paid on […]

The closest any of these legislations comes to it is Section 5 of the Price Control Act which, unbelievably,  actually provides that the pump price of petroleum products should consist of the cost of importation/production , the importer or producer’s profit and – in the case of imported fuel – the customs duty paid on it .
However, none of the above statutes, and therefore the entire subsidy regime itself, is valid because of the non-designation of petroleum products as essential commodities by the National Assembly, as required by Item 62(e) of the Exclusive Legislative List of the 1999 Constitution. Only such a designation by the National Assembly confers constitutional validity on any price control legislation.
Accordingly, the entire practice of subsidising petroleum products and the legal framework which underpins it is ultra vires both the Federal Government and the National Assembly, and is invalid, null and void.

Barrister Abubakar D. Sani, Kano <[email protected]>;