Osinbajo seeks NPA, Shippers’ Council support to clear Apapa gridlock

Osinbajo seeks NPA, Shippers' Council support to clear Apapa gridlock
L-R: Vice Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Apapa Gridlock, Kayode Opeifa; Director, Legal Service, Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Samuel Vongtau and Director, Inland Transport Services, NSC, Akintunde Makinde at a meeting between the task force and the NSC in Lagos on Thursday.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has called on the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to assist in the implementation of the Presidential Order issued to truck drivers to vacate ports’ access roads within 72 hours.

Osinbajo, who is the Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Apapa gridlock made the call at a meeting held at the NSC Headquarters, in Lagos on Thursday.

Represented by Vice Chairman of the Task Force, Kayode Opeifa, Osinbajo maintained that the task force was set up by the Presidency to proffer lasting solutions to the perennial traffic in Apapa and its environs within two weeks.

According to him, the new directive mandates the immediate removal of all trucks from ports access roads in which the NSC and NPA are key agencies that will assist the realisation and urged both agencies to rally round the task force.

He also expressed readiness to engage law enforcement agencies to ensure compliance with the Federal Government’s directives warning that “any truck driver that violates the Presidential Order will face the music”. 

The Executive Secretary/CEO of NSC, Hassan Bello, expressed his agency’s readiness to give the task force the necessary assistance to fulfill its mandate. 

Bello, who was represented by the Director, Legal Services of the Council, Samuel Vongtau, expressed optimism that the aspiration of the committee will address anomalies that have characterise the port access roads in Lagos.

Also speaking, Director, Inland Transport Services,  Akintunde Makinde, said the Federal Government had commenced moves to engage rail for the movement of containers to hinterland.

The meeting was attended by the representatives of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Nigeria Police Force, Lagos State Government, National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Presidential Enabling Business Council (PEBEC), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) and Apapa GRA Residents Association.