Human Rights lawyer, Femi Falana has called for an investigation into the books of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) over the recent revelation that the company owes petrol suppliers.

Falana in an interview with Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme indicated there must be a swift investigation of the Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) scam, stating that there is no time better than now.

“It is high time the importation scam was investigated. I am not talking of the joke that is going on in the National Assembly. The media must help civil society organisations to expose the fraud,” he said.

The NNPCL admitted the company’s significant debt to petrol suppliers, saying it posed a threat to the sustainability of fuel supply. Several reports indicate the debt owed is about $6 billion.

“Once the government begins to speak about affordability and sustainability in response to growing queues at filling stations, there are problems,” Falana stated.

According to the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, there is no full disclosure on the part of the government on subsidy on petrol, adding that Nigeria can’t spend “$2.9bn to fix the refineries” yet the dates for the resumption of production at the refineries have been constantly shifted.

The legal luminary threatened to sue those responsible for fixing state-owned refineries should they announce another postponement.

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, had said the landing cost per litre of petrol has made it impossible for petrol marketers to import the essential commodity as was done by the NNPCL.