Apapa gridlock will continue until petrol is available nationwide —NUPENG

The recurrent traffic gridlock at Apapa caused by petroleum tankers will continue until petroleum products are available in all depots in across the country.

Mr Tokunbo Korodo, the chairman, National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) in the South-West, made the statement on Friday in Lagos in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

He urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to repair all its pipelines nationwide and pump the product through the channel.

He said that the NNPC was making use of 16 of its depots within the country until vandals destroyed the pipelines which he said, had led to tanker drivers coming to Lagos to load the product.

Korodo noted that the traffic gridlock was contributing to scarcity of the product nationwide as tanker drivers spend close to two weeks in Lagos depot to load the product.

“The only solution to this recurrent gridlock in Apapa and some roads in Lagos is for the NNPC to repair all its pipeline and pump the product through them.

“The management of NNPC should also ensure that its pipelines are protected against vandalism.

“More than 3,000 petroleum tankers from different parts of the country usually come to Lagos weekly to load fuel from six private depots used by NNPC to dispense the product.

“This is what is causing traffic gridlock at Apapa; the problem will not be resolved until every state has its own loading depot,” he said.

Korodo urged the Federal Government to rehabilitate the nation’s refineries to boost local production and reduce importation of refined petroleum products.