Famous Lawyer Tells Tinubu To Leave Top Post He Occupies

Former Nigerian Bar Association President and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olisa Agbakoba, has criticized the practice of the President serving as the Minister of Petroleum Resources.

In an interview with Arise TV, Agbakoba discussed the issues affecting Nigeria’s oil sector and called for the repeal of the Petroleum Industrial Act (PIA).

Agbakoba argued that President Bola Tinubu should not hold the petroleum minister role because he lacks the time to effectively manage both positions. He condemned the belief that commercialization and privatization automatically lead to efficiency, citing examples from China and Saudi Arabia, which operate under state capitalism.

“My point is Mr. President should not be the minister of petroleum resources because he doesn’t have the time. The practice of the President becoming the minister of petroleum resources has to stop,” Agbakoba said. “If the PIA is such a fantastic bill, why are we still facing fuel scarcity issues that date back to 1972? There was a misconception that commercialization necessarily means efficiency. It doesn’t. China and Saudi Arabia run state capitalism. I retract my earlier belief that commercialization and privatization are development vehicles. They are not, at least not in Nigeria’s context.”

Further criticizing Nigeria’s privatization efforts, Agbakoba argued that they have not led to development or poverty alleviation but have enriched certain individuals instead.

“I challenge anyone to show me one successful privatized entity since this started in 2000. What has happened is that state enterprises have been privatized into private pockets. Nothing has benefited the public as specified in section 14, and poverty remains rampant. We must be careful about potential food riots,” he said, urging a re-evaluation of Nigeria’s privatization strategy.