• See more news about fuel scarcity in Nigeria
The NMDPRA decision will cost a lot of Nigerians their jobs. It is starting today, and, it is also expected to cause fuel scarcity across the nation.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has banned 60,000-liter fuel tankers plying Nigerian roads, starting on March 1.
Reason behind the decision, the agency said, was to curtail truck-in-transit incidents. Recall that nearly hundred people roast to death last month at Ugwu Onyeama in Enugu State when fuel tanker fell. There are several reports like that all across Nigeria, and the bad news comes often.
By November, ban on fuel tankers above 45,000 liters would begin, NMDPRA added.
Already, investors, tanker drivers and other stakeholders the NMDPRA’s decision has affected are apprehensive. They fear the move may lead to either fuel scarcity or hike in fuel prices.
“We don’t have any comment for now,” Aloha Ogbogo, the Executive Secretary of National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), told Daily Trust.
But NARTO is thinking in term of how the development would destroy interests of its members. Together with other major stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, the group is likely to go to higher authorities and kill NMDPRA’S idea.
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