The federal government has been urged by the house of representatives to abolish the prohibition on the supply of petroleum products to stations that are less than 20 kilometres from the geographical borders of the nation.
After adopting a proposal made in the chamber by Adegboyega Isiaka from Ogun state, the lawmakers passed the resolutions during the plenary session on Tuesday.
The legislators requested that properly registered petrol outlets within the border areas be supplied with petroleum supplies by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and other pertinent government institutions.
In 2019, the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari issued a directive prohibiting the supply of petroleum products to gas outlets within 20 miles of the country’s borders.
The directive was issued at the time to stem the smuggling of petrol to neighbouring countries like Niger Republic, Benin Republic, Cameroon, Chad and Togo.
In his inaugural speech on May 29, President Bola Tinubu said the petrol subsidy regime was over.
Following the removal of the subsidy, petrol prices doubled across fuel stations in Benin Republic and Cameroon.
While moving the motion, Isiaka said the ban should be lifted because the petrol subsidy has been removed.
The lawmaker said the continued enforcement of the ban is causing hardships to millions of Nigerians living and conducting businesses within the affected areas who have to travel kilometres to get the products or pay an extra amount to secure the commodity for their daily needs.
“The ban has continued to impact negatively on the socio-economic activities in the affected areas,” he said.
The lawmakers voted in support of the motion when it was subjected to a voice vote by Tajudeen Abbas, the speaker of the house.
The house mandated the committee on customs and excise, when constituted, to ensure the implementation of the resolution.
