Falana: Incoming Govt. Should Probe Monumental Fraud in Fuel Importation

Wale Igbintade   

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana SAN has charged the in-coming government to investigate what he called ‘monumental fraud’ surrounding the importation of fuel into the country.

Speaking yesterday on Channel television’s Politics Today, Falana said: ‘’I believe the incoming government will have to set up an enquiry to find out why the government claim to spend trillions of Naira on importation of fuel, and that the bulk of fuel imported goes out of the country’’.

He said: “Before the Buhari regime goes, it is important to let Nigerians know that we have investment in Dangote Refinery. Nigeria invested $2.7billion in that refinery. In addition, 300,000 barrel of crude oil that will be given to the refinery per day. Secondly, the Buhari administration very belatedly earmarked $1.5 billion to fix the Port Harcourt refinery.We understand the refinery will come on stream this year.  For Warri and Kaduna refineries, the government has paid contractor $1.4 billion. When these refineries are turned round and with our investment in Dangote Refinery, I believe the incoming government will have to set up an enquiry to find out why the government claim to spend trillions of Naira on importation of fuel, and that the bulk of fuel imported go out of the country’’.

Falana, who called on the federal government to as soon as possible to apply to join the BRICS countries, added that Nigeria had no business selling oil and gas in dollars, and should ask buyers to pay in naira.

His words: ‘’I have been fighting the current leadership of the Central Bank of Nigeria for turning the Nigeria economy into a kalokalo affair. The central bank is supervised by the IMF and World Bank, and their position is that the Naira is overvalued, and that the Naira should be completely destroyed. The central bank supports such very dangerous neo-liberal policy. 

“Section 20 of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act provides that legal tender in Nigeria shall be currency notes issued by the CBN, as well as coins. But today dollars are spent in Nigeria, landlords collect rents in dollars in certain parts of the country. School fees are paid in dollars. And I have fought the CBN, asking under what law you have allowed the economy to be dollarised.

‘’What I am saying is that the world is moving, the BRICS namely, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa  are going to have an international currency to challenge the dollar, also about 24 countries have applied to join the body that will take place in South Africa. I am simply asking, what is the position of Nigeria”.

 On the call for conclusion of election petition before May 29, Falana argued that for such to happen, there must be an amendment to Section 285 of the constitution.

‘’I think some of our colleagues with profound respect are causing confusion. Section 285 of the Constitution prescribes 180 days for dealing with election petitions at the Court of Appeal. If there is an appeal, you have additional 60 days, so all together you’re talking of eighth months.  In the case of governorship elections petition, you are talking of ten months, 180 days in the tribunal, 60 days in the Court of Appeal, and 60 days in the Supreme Court.

‘’I think what people are saying is that we should go back to the drawing table, use technology properly, then we can amend the Constitution to allow election petitions to be disposed-off within two or three weeks’’.

Falana noted that the petitioners did not file their petitions until 21 days after the elections, hence cannot be talking of seven days or fourteen days.  

He said: ‘’After this exercise we can go back to the drawing table and amend the Constitution and the Electoral Act to allow a situation whereby we don’t even go to the Court of Appeal, if you are talking of Presidential election petition as is it the case in Ghana and in Kenya. You simply go to the Supreme Court

‘’Up to 2011, governorship election petitions were never handled by the Supreme Court. So, I think this experience should really inform some concrete and amendment of the constitution, and that can only happen with proper deployment of technology. If you have the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine and you have the BEVAS report and the results of the election are transmitted to the Central Server of INEC, those are the two reports that should be taken to the tribunal. But in this case the petitioners are calling witnesses; the respondents are calling witnesses including the electoral body. After which the witnesses are going to be cross-examined. It is after the hearing of each of the petitions that parties will be invited to write written submissions, submit them to the court and adopt them, before the judges will retire to consider the addresses and the evidence led in court. Under the current electoral regime, you cannot abridge the time’’, he argued.  

Falana, however, expressed confidence that the Presidential Election Tribunal will dispense justice in the petitions filed before it.