LASG Directs Tankers to Quit Lagos in 48 Hours
Stakeholders agree to comply with directive
The Lagos State Government yesterday directed the drivers of petroleum tankers parked 300 metres away from tank farms to quit the state within 48 hours until the Petroleum products would be available.
The state government also said the enforcement of the new directive would take off precisely next Friday, though with persuasion, noting that failing to comply by the tanker drivers would elicit stiffer penalties and sanctions.
The ultimatum was issued at a stakeholders’ meeting the state government conveyed to work out an arrangement to unlock gridlocks, which it said, had crippled commercial activities in different parts of the state in the last few days.
The stakeholders at the meeting included officials of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Petroleum Tankers Drivers (PTD), National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN).
Chaired by the Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, the meeting was attended by the representatives of the Nigeria Police, Apapa Local Government, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and Lagos State Taskforce on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement Unit).
The commissioner explained that the decision to ask tanker drivers to be 200 and 300 meters away from the tank farms in the state, was agreed to by all the stakeholders who attended the meeting in Alausa.
The commissioner added that the meeting had agreed that 48 hours should be given to tanker drivers queuing between 200 and 300 meters to the fuel depots to leave Lagos pending the availability of the commodity.
Opeifa said information available from the marketers revealed that there was no fuel at the tank farms, noting that there was no justification for the tankers “to remain on the queue. Some of the tankers should leave Lagos.
“No tanker should be seen on Eko, Liverpool and Coconut among other bridges. By Thursday (today), the tanker owners must make one lane available for motorists to use pending the expiration of the ultimatum for enforcement to begin.”
He said the enforcement would be done by the various unions in the axis with the support of the state government, police and FRSC, noting any tanker that does not comply would be fined and would not be released until such fines had been paid.
Opeifa decried the untold hardship residents of Apapa and those working in the area are made to go through on daily basis as a result of the blockage of the expressway by tanker drivers waiting to lift fuel that is not available.
He appealed to the stakeholders to ensure that the agreement reached was not breached, saying by Friday afternoon, the state government would move in to the axis to begin enforcement though with persuasion rather than towing tankers.
Opeifa added that the marketers and major operators in the area had agreed “to come out with a programming and ticketing method that will allow only tanker meant to lift fuel at a particular point in time is allowed within the axis.”
The commissioner said with this development, gridlock in Apapa, Ijora and other areas would have been abated, thereby appealing to residents of Apapa to exercise patience, and warned that government should not be taken for granted.
At the meeting, the Executive Secretary of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, said the federal government still owed them a balance of N200 billion from oil subsidy, claiming that they currently have no money to import product into the country unless the debt is settled.
Olawore added that no federal government official was talking to them on how “to settle our debt. This situation has been frustrating our business. As we speak, nobody from the federal government is talking to us.”
He also faulted the claim by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that there was fuel enough for local consumption, saying the NNPC should point “to a depot where it has enough fuel. Truth is there is no fuel to lift.”