Tanker drivers under the auspices of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners have threatened to withdraw their services if forced to join the electronic call-up system introduced by the Nigerian Ports Authority.
The National President of NARTO, Yusuf Othman, told The PUNCH in Lagos on Tuesday, that the association would resist any move that would impose any additional cost on its members.
Eto is an electronic call-up system introduced by the NPA and managed by TTP for the movement of trucks in and out of the ports.
Recall that the Managing Director of TTP, Mr Jama Onwubuariri, in a recent interview, said that the company had commenced discussions with the Lagos State Government to see how tanker drivers could be incorporated into the platform.
“It is part of the conversation we are having with the Lagos State Government to add the tankers. As you know, the tanker drivers or owners and the tank farms are different sets of stakeholders. “Managing these stakeholders and engaging with them as well as understanding their concerns and addressing them is a conversation that we have been going through for over a year. So, it is a simple way, but that plan is that they will be put into a call-up system just as the trailer/trucks,” Jama said.
Reacting to this, Othman said if they were pushed to the wall, they wouldn’t have any choice but to withdraw their services.
“They should be very careful because the fuels distributed in the country as far as we are concerned are done through the tankers. And if they push us to the wall we will stop those tankers from working and see if those TTP would distribute those products themselves.
“There is a limit to what we can take. We are strained now as far as we are concerned, any additional cost would not be taken. There are ways they can address the traffic, using a scientific approach, but they can’t come and bring additional cost to us. We will not take it.
