Wale JAGUN
Lagos State House of Assembly has called on the Governor of the State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, to restrict the movement of long vehicles in the state to between 9pm and early hours of the day.
The motion, which was moved by 14 members of the House on Thursday, July 5, 2018, was as a result of the petrol tanker accident that claimed lives and properties along Otedola Estate bridge on Lagos-Ibadan expressway on Thursday 28th June, 2018.
In the motion moved on the floor by Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, the Majority Leader of the House, the lawmakers called for a review of regulations for long vehicles in Lagos State.
The House urged the Governor to direct the State Commissioner for Transportation, Hon. Dipo Lawanson, to ensure that long vehicles do not ply the roads in the state until 9pm.
Hon. Agunbiade said “The House observed that the fire incident around Otedola Estate Bridge on Thursday, June 28, 2018, led to the avoidable deaths of several people and also destroyed many properties.
“We noticed that the incident was caused by recklessness on the part of the driver, overspeeding, drinking of alcohol amongst others. It is also observed that many of the drivers do not have driver’s license and many of the vehicles are not road worthy”.
While commending the Lagos State Government for the rapid response to the incident, the movers of the motion urged the state government to sanction any long vehicle owner that does not obtain necessary papers and ensure road worthiness of his or her vehicles.
Agunbiade stated that it was worrisome that long vehicles are parked on Ikorodu Road indiscriminately considering the consequences.
The House equally used the opportunity to call on Governor Ambode to direct the Commissioner for Transportation to provide regulations for the types of vehicles that would ply Lagos roads based on their year of purchase.
Agunbiade added that the state government should direct all owners of long vehicles to go for insurance policies, provide places to park the vehicles and ensure that they follow the regulations of the state government.
“We also want to call on Governor Ambode to direct the Chief Justice of the State, Justice Olufunmilayo Oke, to set up mobile courts to handle cases involving long vehicles.
“The House calls on the Minister of Power, Works and Housing to repair the roads in the state and provide weigh bridges for the vehicles,” he said.
“Our traffic law should be reviewed to reduce loss of lives on our roads. If the Otedola Estate incident had happened at night, the casualty would have been minimal,” he stated.
Also speaking on the matter, Hon. Yinka Ogundimu said that the state government should call on the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Edgal Imohimi, to be up and doing to ensure that the vehicle owners obtain insurance policies.
He said that the policies should be regulated by the police so that the efforts of the government would not be wasted.
The motion was also supported by Hon. Bisi Yusuf, who said that a similar incident was averted in Alimosho Area on Wednesday, and warned that the matter should be taken seriously.
The Speaker subsequently directed the Clerk of the House, Mr. Azeez Sanni, to write to the government on the matter.
