The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced a ban on fuel tankers exceeding 60,000 litres from operating on Nigerian roads.

The ban is expected to take effect from 1 March 2025, as revealed by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA.

The agency also specified that, by the fourth quarter of 2025, no truck with a capacity exceeding 45,000 litres will be permitted to load petroleum products.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday in Abuja, Ogbugo Ukoha, NMDPRA Executive Director of Distribution Systems, Storage, and Retailing Infrastructure, stated that the decision was made in response to the rising number of road accidents involving heavy-duty petroleum tankers.

Recall that  between 2010 and 2025, over 2,500 truck accidents claimed more than 3,500 lives in Nigeria, with the deadliest incident occurring in Jigawa in 2024, where an overturned fuel tanker exploded, killing dozens and leaving a scarred mass grave.

According to him, after deliberations involving key agencies—including the Department of State Services, DSS, Federal Fire Service, Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, National Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, DAPPMAN, and NMDPRA—it was agreed that from 1 March 2025, any truck with an axle load exceeding 60,000 litres of hydrocarbons will not be allowed to load at any depot.

Ukoha dismissed recent claims questioning the quality of fuel in circulation across the country, describing them as bogus, misleading, and unscientific.

He assured Nigerians that all imported and locally refined petroleum products meet strict regulatory standards before being released into the market.

The regulator vowed to ensure compliance with petroleum industry standards and specifications, stressing that recent social media claims about the quality of fuel products in circulation are baseless and should be disregarded.