A combined photo of President Bola Tinubu, NNPCL logo and ADC spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi
By Victory Oghene
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised President Bola Tinubu for unilaterally writing off the debt of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), adding that its an impeachable offence to do so.
Recall that President Tinubu had approved the cancellation of about $1.42 billion and N5.57 trillion outstanding obligations owed by the NNPCL to the federation account allocation committee (FAAC) following a reconciliation of records between both parties but in a statement issued on Saturday, Bolaji Abdullahi, ADC spokesperson, said Tinubu lacks the unilateral power to cancel the NNPCL debt without liasing with states and securing approval from the national assembly.
“This write off was done without legislative or parliamentary approval or clear constitutional authority,” the statement reads.
He stated that the president’s action is an “egregious assault” on the constitution, which should be “sufficient grounds to commence impeachment proceedings” against him.
Abdullahi said as a nation with laws, no president can override what the constitution protects, adding that the federation account belongs to all tiers of government, and cannot be subject to the discretion of the federal executive.
“This purported justification of ‘reconciliation’ cannot lawfully override the constitutional requirements for revenue sharing.
“The action effectively removes longstanding liabilities from public accounts, but at the cost of reducing the revenue base constitutionally distributable to states and local governments.”
“It is important to emphasise that executive action cannot override the constitution.”
Abdullahi said under section 162 of the 1999 constitution, all revenues due to the federation, including oil sector receipts and related obligations, must be paid into the federation account and shared among the federal, state, and local governments.
“The federation account is not subject to executive discretion; no president, including this one, has the unilateral authority to cancel constitutionally due revenues, and any cancellation that reduces revenue due to the states and local governments without legislative authority is unconstitutional,” he said.
He accused the president of repeatedly violating the constitution.
“Even more worrying, however, is what appears to be active collusion or wilful surrender by the national assembly,” Abdullahi said.
