KEY POINTS

• Experts call for the reopening of the airport fuel pipeline.

• Restoring the pipeline will lower aviation fuel costs.

• Stakeholders urge tighter control of fuel quality and marketers.

Aviation stakeholders have renewed calls for the Federal Government to restore the long-closed airport fuel pipeline linking the Atlas Cove depot to the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos. They said reopening the 98-kilometre pipeline, which has been out of use for more than three decades, would help decongest roads, cut accident risks, and stabilise aviation fuel prices.

The pipeline, originally built to deliver Jet A1 directly to the airport, was shut down in 1992 following a rupture that raised suspicions of sabotage. Since then, road tankers have transported aviation fuel, a system operators describe as unsafe, inefficient, and costly.

Calls for efficient airport fuel pipeline restoration

Speaking on Thursday at a colloquium titled Aviation Fuel Business in Nigeria: The Scenario and the Metaphor, Managing Director of CITA Energies Ltd, Dr. Thomas Ogungbangbe, said restoring the airport fuel pipeline restoration project was long overdue. He described the move as essential for improving operational safety, fuel quality, and national efficiency.

Ogungbangbe said the project could save the country millions of dollars each month, stressing that reviving the facility would eliminate more than 100 fuel trucks from Lagos roads daily, significantly easing traffic congestion and lowering accident rates.

He also urged authorities to tackle the inefficiencies affecting aviation fuel distribution. According to him, the number of Jet A1 marketers now far exceeds the available airlines operating in Nigeria.

“We used to have about six fuel marketers, but now there are about 45,” he said. “While this seems like progress, it has raised concerns about product quality and oversight.”

Quality control and market regulation concerns

According to Punch, Ogungbangbe added that Nigeria still loses a considerable volume of aviation fuel to neighbouring countries in West Africa, though the emergence of the Dangote Refinery has helped reduce such leakages in the past 18 months.

Also speaking, Chris Ndulue, Managing Director of Ndano Energy, echoed concerns about the sector’s lack of coordination. He urged the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to strengthen quality oversight of aviation fuel supplies and ensure that airport land allocations are better regulated by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

“Some airports have up to 30 fuel marketers, which is excessive,” Ndulue said. “At Enugu Airport alone, there are about five fuel marketers. Operators need to collaborate more, despite past challenges, to sustain the industry’s future.”

The call for airport fuel pipeline restoration reflects a growing industry consensus that Nigeria must modernise its aviation infrastructure to remain competitive. Stakeholders say reopening the facility would not only improve logistics but also strengthen national energy security.