The Federal Government has banned 60,000 litres petrol tankers from operating on Nigerian roads, effective March 1, to mitigate truck-in-transit incidents.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, announced the ban while briefing newsmen shortly after the Authority’s Stakeholders Technical Committee Meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, February 19, 2025.
Ahmed added that by the fourth quarter of 2025, no truck with 45,000 litres capacity would be allowed to load petroleum products.
Ahmed, who was represented by the NMDPRA Executive Director of Distribution Systems, Storage, and Retailing Infrastructure, MOgbugo Ukoha, said the decision was made in response to the incessant road accidents involving heavy-duty petrol tankers.
Ahmed disclosed that the meeting which involved stakeholders and key agencies agreed that from March 1, any truck with an axle load of more than 60,000 litres of hydrocarbon would not be allowed to load at any depot.
“The important thing about this is that, for the first time, consensus was built amongst all stakeholders, and we will work together to deliver a safe transportation of petroleum products across the country,” he said.
The NMDPRA boss also dismissed recent claims questioning the quality of fuel in circulation across the country, describing them as bogus, misleading, and unscientific.
He assured Nigerians that all imported and locally refined petroleum products met strict regulatory standards before being released into the market.
Ahmed also vowed to ensure compliance with petroleum industry standards and specifications, stressing that recent social media claims about the quality of fuel products in circulation were baseless and should be disregarded.
Ahmed said it would usually be more circumspect and not respond to every comment that was being made in the public.
He said: “But it’s important that people who dabble into the social media space are reminded that it is actually disrespectful, if you imagine that Nigerians are gullible.
“Nigerians are discerning enough to know that energies need to be directed positively. People who make unscientific claims, bogus data expertise are really not helping the situation.
“We’re working very hard in compliance with the presidential mandates to support the local refineries, to build capacity for sufficiency; and not just quality, but pricing is also done in a transparent, competitive and fair way.”
Ahmed assured Nigerians that the NMDPRA would continue to comply with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021 as well as the specifications set by SON.
He said SON’s specification included parameters such as research obtain number, sulphur content, density, colour, oxygenate level, and many others.
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