Road Accidents: FG Bars 60,000-Litre Fuel Tankers From March 1

Determined to mitigate truck-in-transit incidents on Nigerian roads, the Federal Government has banned all 60,000-litre fuel tankers from operating on the nation’s highways effective March 1, 2025.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) announced the ban on Wednesday, explaining that trucks with over 45,000 litres in capacity will not be allowed to load products by the fourth quarter of 2025.

The NMDPRA Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage, and Retailing Infrastructure, Ogbugo Ukoha, told journalists on Wednesday in Abuja that the decision was in response to the increasing number of road accidents involving heavy-duty petroleum tankers, some of which resulted in infernos and several deaths.

Ukoha said; “The first stakeholders’ technical committee met today to drill down and put timelines for about 10 resolutions that had been taken on how to drive down the significant increase that had been observed about trucks and transit incidents and fatalities.”

He stated that arising from deliberations among key agencies, including the Department of State Services (DSS), Federal Fire Service, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), and Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), it was agreed that from March 1, 2025, any truck with an axle load of more than 60,000 litres of hydrocarbon will not be allowed to load at any depot.

According to him; “The important thing about this is that, for the first time, consensus was built amongst all stakeholders, and we are continuing to encourage that we will work together cohesively to deliver a safe transportation of petroleum products across the country”.

Ukoha, who expressed serious concerns over the increasing rate of fatalities on the roads, said; “We noticed in 2023, what we thought was a significant increase in trucks and transit incidents. But in 2024, what we thought was an increase in 2023 was, sadly, much more.

“Last week when we hosted another stakeholders’ meeting, we even pointed out that the January occurrences are threatening to exceed or catch up or exceed the 2024. And so, we must draw a line and say, this can no longer continue. There were about 10 interventions that were determined will mitigate this.”

NARTO Laments, Says Compliance Will Cost Tanker Owners N300bn
Meanwhile, in the wake of the meetings, the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) had expressed concerns over the federal government’s plan, noting that such a ban on 60,000 litres capacity tankers would cause a loss of N300 billion worth of investments by the tanker owners.

Arguing that the cause of the accidents was not the usage of 60,000 litres tanker capacity, NARTO President, Yusuf Othman, said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja recently, the worrying accidents rates could be attributed to the bad roads’ condition; poor condition of the vehicles and irresponsible behaviour by some of the drivers.

He said that 2,000 trucks with 60,000 litres capacity worth N150 million each, amounting to N300 billion investments were involved in the transportation of petroleum products nationwide, adding that some of these investments were financed by the commercial banks, while some were personal investments of the tanker owners.

The NARTO boss pleaded with the federal government to consider a buy-back policy to help the investors, if it wishes to phase out completely the usage of 60,000 litres tanker capacity in the distribution of petroleum products.

172 Oil Trucks Accidents, 1,896 Deaths Since 2009 – Reports

Available research reports indicated that the latest oil tanker explosion, which killed nearly 98 people in Niger State, has added to the alarming death toll from such incidents since 2009 with the figures put at approximately 1,896 fatalities over the past 16 years.

According to a study published in the Nigerian Research Journal of Engineering and Environmental Sciences (NRJEES), until October 2024, the year 2019 had the highest number of oil tanker accidents and fatalities.

Unfortunately, a catastrophic explosion on 15th October 2024, in Majia, a town in the Taura Local Government Area, Jigawa State, claimed 181 lives and the incident made 2024 the deadliest year on record, with a total of 266 fatalities.

Between January 2009 and January 2025, Nigeria recorded 172 oil tanker fires and explosions, which caused 1,896 deaths. This is as experts identify several key factors contributing to these accidents, noting that these include individuals collecting spilled fuel, tanker crashes in crowded areas, vehicle collisions, and human errors.

More than 100 incidents were linked to human-related factors, according to research and since May 2023, Nigeria has reported 28 oil tanker accidents, resulting in 468 deaths.

These incidents account for over 15 per cent of all accidents and nearly 25 per cent of the fatalities recorded since 2009. – With Daily Trust report