As motorists lament the gridlock caused by the collapsed bridges in Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State, the National Association of Road Transport Owners and Association of Tanker Drivers have warned that if the bridges are not fixed in a few days time, there would scarcity of petroleum products across the country.
The National President of the National Association of Road Transport Owners, Mallam Kashim Ibrahim, said the 10 days ultimatum given to all tanker drivers to deliver petroleum products by the Petroleum Equalisation Fund to points of destination cannot be actualised.
Ibrahim made this disclosure on Monday in Tatabu village in Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State when the Acting President, Prof. Yomi Osibanjo, visited Niger State for an on-the-spot inspection of the collapsed bridges.
But Osibanjo, while responding to questions after inspecting the ongoing construction at Tatabu, assured that the ultimatum given by PEF will not work.
According to him: “I don’t think ultimatum will be of much use here.
“What we have to deal with here is an emergency and we have to deal with it.
“Everyone has been fully mobilised for the completion of the project.
“The road transport union workers understand the nature of the problem and they know we are working to fix it.”
Ibrahim had earlier told Osinbajo and his entourage: “We have our fears that if these bridges are not fixed in the next few days, there is going to be fuel scarcity across the country.
“This is because the 10 days ultimatum given to all tanker drivers to deliver Petroleum products by PEF to points of destination cannot be actualized because of the collapse, yet they (PEF) do not want to see reasons with us.
“The worry is that if these tankers don’t deliver products at the stipulated deadline, our members will lose all their payments since it is PEF that regularises payments.”
Also, the National Chairman, Association of Tanker Drivers, Comrade Salimon Oladiti, said it is a pity that Nigeria as a country is experiencing this problem.
Oladiti said: “Our members are the ones most affected.
“We want the Federal Government and the National Assembly to declare an emergency on federal roads in Niger State.
“Apart from the scarcity of fuel, there would be shortage of foods also because fuel from South to North has stopped and foods from North to South has stopped too.
“You can see that the collapse of the bridge has affected the entire economy of Nigeria as billions of naira is being lost everyday these trailers and tankers are grounded.”
It should be recalled that the two bridges in Tatabu and Bokani villages in Mokwa Local Government Areas of the state collapsed on June 4 and 11 respectively after heavy downpours.