The Federal Government has announced a ban on trucks carrying over 60,000 litres of hydrocarbon products from loading at depots and travelling on federal roads, effective from March 1, 2025.

It also announced that from the Fourth Quarter of 2025, no truck carrying more than 45,000 litres of petroleum products shall be allowed to load from the depots.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority Executive Director, Distribution System, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, Ogbugo Ukoha, announced this at a briefing on Wednesday in Abuja.

The announcement, according to him, was a sequel to the meeting the authority held with stakeholders in the industry owing to the recurring accidents and explosions due to overloaded petroleum products trucks.

Recall that last week, the government, at a meeting with stakeholders, hinted at plans to impose a ban on trucks with 60,000-litre capacity, preventing them from operating on federal highways.

This follows the increasing number of deaths resulting from petrol tanker accidents, which has led to the death of 493 persons in three years.

But the President of the National Association of Road Transport Owners, Yusuf Othman, opposing the potential ban, said such a move would lead to a potential loss of over N300bn investment.

He lamented that over 2,000 trucks will be abandoned and an investment of over N150m for each truck will be lost.

However, announcing the ban after a fresh stakeholders meeting on Wednesday, the regulatory authority stated that it has decided to break down and establish timelines for about 10 resolutions aimed at addressing the significant increase in truck-related transit incidents and fatalities.

The NMDPRA director said the stakeholders that held the consensus decision at the meeting were the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Standard Organisation of Nigeria, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, and Directorate of State Services, among others.

Ukoha said, “Beginning from March 1, 2025, trucks with a capacity in excess of 60,000 litres will not be allowed to load in any loading depot of petroleum products.

”Also by the fourth quarter, we will also preclude the loading of transportation of petroleum products of any truck in excess of 45,000 litres. That is the breaking news for today.”

He said the ban is in phases in order to allow the investors time to adjust to the directive.

According to him, the investors, especially truck owners, need time to redesign the trucks and redirect their funding.

He added, “Historically, we have seen an increase in the tanking capacity, the truck capacities moving from about 27,000 to 33,000 to 45,000. And I recall that the records show that in 2020, there was a stakeholder meeting where it was determined that 45,000 should be the cap.

“The Ministry of Works also has made interventions because the impact on the roads is a reality. Our study of the recent fatalities also suggests that trucks in excess of 60,000 litres have contributed to this. But at the same time, as a regulator, when you would like to begin to enforce, you also have to balance a lot of considerations.

“Yes, it will have an impact on the investment and all, but we are having conversations to give everybody comfort as to, and that is why we have staggered the implementation of even the 45,000 plus to Q4 so that it gives room for all stakeholders. It has to be a win-win for everybody.”