The Nigerian government and the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) are at odds over a proposed ban on petroleum trucks with a 60,000-litre capacity.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) hosted a broad-based, multi sectoral Stakeholders Workshop on the recent spate of Oil Tanker accidents on across the country and suggested limiting truck capacity to 45,000 litres to reduce tanker explosion incidents, which have claimed 493 lives in the past three years.
At the stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja, NMDPRA CEO, Engr. Farouk Ahmed highlighted the rising fatalities from tanker explosions, urging strict adherence to safety protocols. However, NARTO President Yusuf Othman opposed the proposal, citing a potential loss of N300 billion in investments.
He added that the Authority is focused on implementing immediate mechanisms to mitigate these unfortunate circumstances and in the long term to get down to zero incidents scenario. Part of the ACE’s charge was to indicate zero tolerance for any operator to conduct business in
contravention of established protocols and safety requirements henceforth.
