The Federal Capital Territory’s residents may soon face another round of gasoline shortages, as it has been reliably learnt that tanker drivers have chosen not to deliver goods there because of the FCT’s poor road system and high diesel costs.
This information was provided to the media on Tuesday by sources close to the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria as well as the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria.
They said that despite the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s assurance that there would be sufficient supplies, members of the National Association of Road Transport Operators were not prepared to deliver the goods to the nation’s capital.
Illustration of effect of fuel scarcity in Nigeria
Additionally, it was learned that NARTO members had lost no fewer than seven tankers, some of which contained products, as a result of Abuja’s poor road system.
“As of Tuesday, marketers were willing to pay up to N1.2 million to transport goods to Abuja, but no driver was willing to risk their lives and their tanks. There is ample goods there, but drivers won’t go there, a DAPPMAN source informed the media.
Additionally, the marketers bemoaned the increased freight expenses.
The DAPMAN member’s claims were backed up by an IPMAN source, who emphasized that poor road conditions prevented tanker trucks from transporting goods from Warri to Abuja.
Aloga Ignatius, the executive secretary of the National Association of Road Transport Operators, declined to comment on the situation when approached.
Akpan Ekpo, an economics and public policy professor at the University of Uyo in Akwa Ibom State, urged the federal government to replace tankers with trains as a new mode of transportation for petroleum products across the nation.
The change follows a recent period of scarcity in the FCT that lasted from February until July.
Fuel prices eventually rose from N165 per litre to N179 to N190 per litre as a result of the months of scarcity.
SOURCE: news-af.feednews.com