The House of Representatives has urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to prioritise the rehabilitation of the vandalised pipelines linking the Ore depot in Ondo State for immediate resumption of operations in the facility.

The call followed the adoption of a motion moved by Festus Adefiranye (APC-Ondo) at plenary on Wednesday.

Mr Adefiranye noted that the depot was inaugurated in 1979, with a storage capacity of about 22 million litres.

According to him, the facility plays a vital role in the distribution and storage of petroleum pipelines across the country by ensuring availability and price stability.

He said the depot was established to serve as a key hub for petroleum pipeline distribution to the South-west zone and parts of Edo, Kwara and Kogi by facilitating economic activities and reducing transportation costs for marketers and consumers.

Adefiranye said that the pipelines supplying or evacuating products to the depot had been vandalised for years without repair.

This, he said, had disrupted the supply of petroleum products, increased costs of petroleum products and brought undue hardship to Nigerians.

The lawmaker said that the functionality of the depot would reduce unnecessary road accidents, wear and tear of vehicles, costs of fuel and diesel consumption as well as operational hazards.

He stated that the continued neglect of the facility had undermined the federal government’s efforts toward economic diversification, job creation and ease of doing business, particularly for small and medium-scale enterprises relying heavily on petroleum products.

The lawmaker said that revamping the depot would improve the availability and affordability of petroleum products in the zone, enhance economic activities, generate employment opportunities and boost government revenue.

In his ruling, the Speaker of the House, Abbas Tajudeen, mandated the Committee on Petroleum Resources (Midstream) to liaise with relevant stakeholders, assess the current state of the depot and ensure prompt action and its restoration.