The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday faulted the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to take over the sales of crude oil from the Nigeria National Petroleum Company, NNPCL.
Atiku described the decision as an illegal action.
He lamented that the Nigerian Government has not released details of its latest decision to the public.
Posting on X, Atiku wrote: “Without prejudice to the possibility of any good that was intended in the decision of the Federal Government to make the @cenbank (CBN) take over the responsibility for crude oil sales proceeds from the @nnpclimited (NNPCL), it must be clearly stated that the action is not legal in its application.
“Although, as usual, of the current administration, little has been communicated to the public about explaining details of the decision.
“According to what is publicly available, the President has issued a directive that henceforth, the NNPCL would submit receipts for crude oil sales to CBN for vetting and documentation.
“Whatever may be the merit of the new arrangement, the presidential directive is a violation of the legal status of the NNPCL.
“It is an arbitrary order capable of undermining the operational independence of the NNPCL.”