The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) has engaged critical stakeholders, including the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Ministry of Works, and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to find lasting solutions to the road network challenges and other lingering issues.
The engagement is part of efforts to sustain the current smooth supply and distribution of petroleum products nationwide within the festive period and beyond, the NNPC said.
Before now, the corporation had expressed interest to invest in the reconstruction of selected federal roads while urging the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum & Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) to shelve their planned strike action at the weekend.
PTD called off planned strike action, agreeing instead to accept the dialogue option proposed by the Corporation, a development that has sustained smooth supply and distribution of petroleum products nationwide.
To achieve his promise, Mele Kyari, the group managing director of the NNPC, took a decisive step as he hosted the relevant stakeholders.
According to him, established under the federal government Executive Order 7 of 2019, the Road Trust Fund Policy/Tax Credit Scheme allows private sector operators to fund critical infrastructure with the government.
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“We are committed to utilising the Federal Government’s Tax Credit Scheme to rebuild some of the affected roads in line with Mr. President’s Executive Order 7.
“Upon our fruitful deliberations today, the NNPC has pledged to support the PTD and NARTO in carrying out quick intervention fixes on some strategic bad spots identified to enable unhindered movement of trucks for transportation of petroleum products nationwide,” Kyari stated.
The meeting was attended by the NNPC, the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Federal Ministry of Works, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Department of State Services (DSS), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and Nigeria Union of Petroleum & Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).
Stakeholders also agreed to enforce mandatory installation of safety valves in all petroleum product trucks in the country effective February 1, 2022, with the full commitment given by NARTO.
The meeting also frowned at the abuse of axle load or tonnage limits, with the NNPC agreeing to engage the Nigerian Customs Service for enforcement of preventing the importation of tanks that exceed 45,000 litres capacity.
