Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has described as illegal the directive from the Federal Government to remit revenue from the sale of crude oil to the Central Bank Nigeria (CBN).
In a statement on Thursday, Atiku said the plan violates the legal status of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) as well as threatens the autonomy of the state oil company.
According to him, State-owned enterprises are not subject to such arbitrary orders and have full control over their finances within the confines of their respective establishment laws.
He said: “Without prejudice to the possibility of any good that was intended in the decision of the Federal Government to make the CBN take over the responsibility for crude oil sales proceeds from the NNPCL, it must be clearly stated that the action is not legal in its application.
“By this order, Mr. President has wrested control of the finances of the NNPCL and donated the same to the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“This is an unprecedented act, without any legal or ethical basis,” he said.
Speaking further, Atiku noted that State-owned enterprises are not subject to such arbitrary orders and have full control over their finances within the confines of their respective establishment laws.
“The PIA makes extensive provisions for the formation, structure, governance, and operation of the NNPCL as an independent limited liability company in Sections 53 to 65 of the Act.
“The government must, therefore, respect the provisions of the law and allow the NNPCL to run as an independent company based on sound commercial objectives and in line with international best practices and standard principles of corporate governance.”
