Fuel Scarcity Looms As Tanker Drivers Threaten Fresh Strike

Nigerians may experience a fresh fuel scarcity situation if petrol tankers under the aegis of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) make true their threats to stop lifting petrol as from Monday.

NARTO said the high cost of operations is responsible for their plan to park their vehicles and stop lifting fuel as from Monday, 19th February.

Speaking in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, NARTO’s president, Yusuf Othman, lamented that the drivers and truck owners have been operating at a loss, and several appeals to the government and other stakeholders to consider their plights have not yielded any positive response.

According to him, the high cost of diesel to fuel their trucks, which is currently between ₦1,250 to ₦1,400/litre, depending on the area of purchase, is a huge disadvantage to the operation of members, and they can’t continue doing business that way.

“Why? It is because what we spend on operations is more than what we get in total, both in local and bridging,” he stated.

Othman added that in an effort to resolve the issues, they have written letters to the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu; the Minister of Petroleum Resources; Department of State Services; Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority; Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited; and oil marketers, but no positive response has been gotten so far.

“We will have to suspend operations latest from now till on Monday. We cannot continue to operate at a loss. Most people have parked. A lot more are going to park. But from the point of the association itself, we are going to suspend operations on Monday,” he stated.

“We have written letters up to the level of the Chief of Staff to the President. We have written to the Minister of Petroleum Resources (Oil). We have written to the Director-General of SSS. We have written to NNPC’s boss. We have written to the NMDPRA. We have written to the major marketers,” Othman added.

Explaining how the dollar affects their operations and culminates in losses, the NARTO boss narrated that the same freight rate that applied when former President Muhammadu Buhari was in power is still obtainable now.

He said during Buhari’s tenure, the dollar was like 650 to the naira, and now that it is trading above 1,500, the freight rate has not changed.

“The Lagos to Abuja freight rate that was implemented when the dollar was N650 is still retained now that dollar is ₦1,615. Everybody is aware that all our consumables in terms of operation are not produced in the country.

“So, by virtue of the rate of dollars, every consumables has increased. But the freight they are paying us has been the same since Buhari’s time. So how is that feasible? During Buhari’s time, one dollar was N650. Today, dollar is ₦1,615. The average freight from Lagos to Abuja is N32,” he stated.

Othman further explained that “what I mean by local is that when you load in Lagos, you discharge in Lagos. And bridging means that when you load from Lagos, you come to Abuja. Lagos to Lagos, we are paid N120,000.

“AGO (diesel) alone to distribute fuel within Lagos is N140,000 because it is ₦1,400/litre. So, they give you N120,000 and you spend N140,000. So how do you want to operate? You’ve not talked about the cost of vehicles, cost of loading, driver’s allowance. That is for local.”

He stated that the cost of moving products out of Lagos or Warri to other states was far higher than what the government was paying to tanker drivers as bridging claims.

The government pays an agreed sum to transporters of petroleum products as bridging claims in order to ensure equality in the pump prices of these products across states, though this has not been the case.

NARTO, which is the umbrella organisation for commercial vehicle owners in Nigeria and represents the interests of those involved in haulage of petroleum products, general cargoes and passenger movement within the country and the West African sub-region, also raised further issues of concern, such as insecurity, poor road conditions, frequent potholes, dilapidated bridges, and lack of proper maintenance lead to increased wear and tear on vehicles, higher running costs and longer journey times.

Other concerns highlighted are traffic congestion, inadequate parking facilities, lack of safe and designated parking areas, numerous security checkpoints that could cause unnecessary delays and harassment for drivers as well as delayed payments.