The National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), has expressed fear over the Federal Government’s plan to ban 60,000 litres capacity tankers following the rising cases of accidents involving fuel tankers.
NARTO President, Yusuf Othman in an interview with NAN in Abuja on Sunday, 16 February, 2025, said such a move would cause a loss of N300 billion worth of investments by the tanker owners.
NAN reports that the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, is considering placing a ban on 60,000 litres capacity petroleum tankers, due to incessant accidents/deaths involving them in the country.
The NMDPRA had proposed a restriction of petroleum tankers capacity to a maximum of 45,000 litres to reduce accidents ‘cases, explosion and fatalities.
Apart from determining appropriate truck carrying capacity, the NMDPRA had put in place other safety measures, including installation of anti-spill safety valves in tanker trucks, public sensitisation against scooping at accident scenes and regular stakeholders’ meeting, among others.
The regulator is of the view that the noncompliance with the established safety measures had led to the recurrence of these accidents.
Othman, however, said the cause of the accidents was not the usage of 60,000 litres tanker capacity, but could be attributed to the condition of the roads, condition of the vehicles and the drivers.
He said that 2,000 trucks with 60,000 litres capacity worth N150m each, amounting to N300b investments were being involved in the transportation of petroleum products nationwide.
Othman explained that some of these investments were being financed by the commercial banks, while some were personal investments of the tanker owners.
“Every truck owner is an investor and every investment is done with a view to get a return.
“We have about 2,000 trucks worth about N150 million each, which is about N300 billion. It will not be fair for them to go down the drain; we are trying to see if there is a win-win situation.
“We all are not happy with the recent development that led to loss of lives and we pray that it will not be repeated again. It’s a huge monumental loss, as well as a monumental loss of investments.
Source: NAN
