End Of Fuel Scarcity: Installation Of Trackers On Trucks To Check Diversion Of Products - FG

In view of the prolonged fuel scarcity in Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, the Federal Government has announced plans to installed trackers on trucks carrying fuel from its NNPC’s depots to filling stations to check diversion, thereby reduce scarcity.

The Managing Director, Petroleum Products and Marketing Company (PPMC), Mrs Esther Nmandi Ogbue, who disclosed this, at the weekend, during a visit to Mosimi Depot and Ajebo pipeline in Ogun state, that the government had discussed the modalities of arresting and prosecuting pipeline vandals with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC), the Director of State Securit Service ( DSS) and the Police in courts of competent jurisdictions.

She said the Federal Government was leaving no stone unturned in its quest to check practices such as hoarding of petroleum products, pipeline vandalism and others, adding the development informed the decision of the government to try and use trackers, EFFC and other law enforcement agencies to stop the menace.

She said through the trackers, the government would be able to monitor the movement of trucks vis- a-vis their destinations, arguing that fuel diversion was a problem with undesirable consequences on the economy.

" We will follow up those stations receiving fuel from the government- owned depots as from this Tuesday. We would do this by publishing detailed information on every truck leaving the depots and the filling stations they are heading to. The information would include the phone numbers of the drivers of the trucks that are carrying fuel, and the stations they are taking the fuel to, among others,” she said.

"This would enable PPMC and other relevant stakeholders to monitor the movement of the trucks together in order to check sabotage.

“Each truck is important because we do not want a repeat of what happened few months ago, when fuel was diverted leading to acute shortage of the product in the country.”

She said when people broke fuel pipelines, they sold the content to marketers and that the government would investigate and bring to books those that are culpable of the offence.

Ogbue said the government will soon provide a ' strategic fuel storage facilities" to ease fuel scarcity.

According to her, the government would leverage on the pipelines that were returning to productivity, to push the products to the facilities, stressing that tankers would be ordered by the government to go to the facilities to load for onward distribution to petrol stations once the needs for interventions arise.

She acknpwledged that the government had not been able to bring anybody to books, despite several years of complaints on issues such as breaking of petrol pipelines, and diversion and hoarding of fuel, but that the partnership with EFCC, the police and the communities, among other initiatives would yield positive results, because many people would face the full wrath of the law soon.

The Federal Government is operates twenty- two depots nationwide, including Atlas Cove in Lagos. Others are in Mosimi, Ejigbo.Ibadan, Ilorin, Ore,Kaduna, Gombe, Yola, Aba, Enugu, and others.


- - WorldStage