14th June, 2019
The Federal Government has extended by two weeks the time given the Presidential Taskforce to resolve the Apapa traffic gridlock, following a request for extension by its members and other stakeholders.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, approved the extension at a meeting of the Taskforce with stakeholders held at the Presidential Villa, earlier in the week.
The taskforce which commenced its assignment on May 24 had up till June 7 to complete the assignment, but is now expected to present a formal report at the end of its extended mandate on June 24.
People who go to Apapa frequently still complain of traffic gridlock like Obayan Joshua, who called out Governor Jide Sanwo-Olu to come and fulfil his electoral promise to clear the port city gridlock.
“Please when will your Apapa gridlock clearance start? This is what we go through everyday at Apapa” he tweeted, along with photo of an Apapa road in a jam.
@jidesanwoolu Good evening sir, please when will your apapa gridlock clearance start. This is what we go through everyday at Apapa pic.twitter.com/nBdx8dGjHW
— Obayan Joshua (@ObayanJoshua) June 13, 2019
The presidential directive was issued for the clearing up of the Apapa gridlock and the restoration of law and order to Apapa and its environs within 2 weeks. The directive followed an emergency meeting convened by President Muhammadu Buhari and chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, on the 25th of April, 2019.
While the Vice President chairs the task force, its daily operations are supervised by an Executive Vice Chairman, Comrade Kayode Opeifa. Membership of the team is drawn from the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Nigerian Ports Authority and the Nigerian Shippers Council.
Other members include a special unit of the Nigeria Police Force led by a Commissioner of Police, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), representatives of the Truck Transport Union, the Lagos State Government through the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), and other relevant MDAs.
According to the Vice President at the meeting held on Tuesday, “we will extend the tenure of the taskforce by two weeks and we must all work together to be able to resolve all the issues raised here today.”
Prof. Osinbajo added that “it will take both medium and long term solutions to ultimately enable us present to the users an efficient port environment for the economy and businesses to thrive.”
He warned that “we will not allow any interests to undermine our nation’s economy”.
The Vice President directed the NPA and other stakeholders to expedite action on the opening of additional truck parks and parking bays around Lagos as well as the commencement of the electronic call-up system at the Port.
In his presentation at the meeting, Opeifa said despite challenges experienced in the course of the assignment, the Task Force was able to record a significant compliance level of the presidential directive on the clearance of the Apapa gridlock.
According to him, efforts are ongoing to open new parking bays for trucks around the port area and in other parts of Lagos, preparatory to the commencement of the electronic call-up system at the port– one of the measures proposed to ameliorate the hardship at the port area.