The spirited efforts by the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to restore normalcy to the supply and distribution of petroleum products nationwide received a major tonic over the weekend with the endorsement of the National Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO.

Speaking during a solidarity visit to the War Room, a special task force established by the NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo, to seek immediate solution to the lingering fuel distribution challenge, Alhaji Lawan Isa, National Coordinator of NARTO, said that the association was doing everything within its power to assist NNPC to achieve its objective.

"It is a welcome development because this war will ginger all of us, we need all hands on deck. So it is a war in which we are involved. Our services have always been made available and we are ready to go all the way this time".

He however called on the Minister of Petroleum Resources Dr Rilwanu Lukman to extend the `War Room’ efforts to tackle malpractices within the system to achieve a permanent solution.

 "In my paper at the Lagos forum I said we are all guilty, that is a confessional statement. Now that we are confessing what follows is for us to stop committing these sins. We must all be prepared to do clean business. I am not blaming anybody because we are all guilty, but we must be ready to move this industry forward," Isa stated.

 Also lending support to the fuel restoration campaign of the NNPC, the President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Alhaji Aminu Abdulkadir called on Nigerians to resist the temptation of embarking on panic buying.

"I want to thank the management of the NNPC and the Petroleum Minister for providing enough products for IPMAN members and other marketers in the country. Thank God NARTO has pledged its commitment to transport the products. So people should not waste their time in panic buying because we have enough products to go round. Those who have enough fuel to run their cars should refrain from going back to the queue," Abdulkadir said.

Meanwhile a special monitoring team set up by the NNPC War Room has launched an extensive nationwide inspection exercise aimed at eliminating the incidence of diversion of fuel tankers from their scheduled destination.  

Last week Dr Rilwanu Lukman read the riot act to the NNPC management to end the fuel queues noticeable in most Nigerian cities, especially Lagos and Abuja within seven days or face sack.

With reported improvement in the fuel supply/ distribution across the country members of the War Room remain optimistic that the Thursday deadline is achievable.