Nigeria may be hit by another round of fuel scarcity soon as the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) has given a 10 day ultimatum to the Federal Government over some challenges its members confront as a result of the implementation of Project Aquila by the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (M) Board (PEF).
The association said that it was under pressure from its members to suspend its operations of distributing petroleum products all over the country pending when the issues will be resolved.
In a letter dated January 15, 2015 and signed by the NARTO National President, Alhaji Kassim Bataiya, the association threatened to boycott all PEF activities, which include loading and transportation of fuel from tank farms and depots throughout the country.
According to the Association, the implementation of Project Acquila has been bedevilled with various problems which have been impeding their operations as a vital stakeholder in the petroleum products distribution network.
Some of the issues raised by NARTO that could warrant their strike include slow response from application of Aquila to up to three months, locations for fixing Aquila are few and far apart leading to trucks travelling over 500 kilometers to fix the project, undue delay in freight payment leading to cash flow problem for NARTO members and problematic transmission from old to new Aquila procedures.
The Association wrote in the letter, “ The response to application or Aquila has been very slow taking up to three months in some cases whereas bank loans amortisation does not wait.
“Non Payment for several months to some of our members on the excuse that Aquila does not capture already delivered products for example in Calabar and Port Harcourt areas.”
NARTO also alleged that there was inconsistency in the Aquila programme leading to three sets of Aquila within three years of its introduction, adding that it was its members that bore the cost.
It noted that decisions have been taken on how to resolve most of the issues at various meetings with the PEF management, but that PEF had refused to implement those decisions.
