Following the apprehension that
has greeted the scheduled visit of President Muhammadu Buhari for the All
Progressives Congress (APC) presidential rally on Saturday, the Lagos State
Government on Friday allayed fears of residents assuring that there would be no
road closures as earlier announced.
Briefing journalists at the
Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa, the State’s Commissioner for
Transportation, Mr Ladi Lawanson said the earlier statement announcing
diversion and road closure had been reviewed, adding that residents were free
to go about their businesses.
Lawanson, who is also a member of
the transport sub-committee for the Presidential visit and the APC rally, said
Lagosians should jettison an earlier announcement by the committee to the
effect that there would be road closures.
He said: “Lagosians have been
very apprehensive that there will be traffic gridlock and we got a lot of
feedbacks that we intend to grind Lagos to a halt. People are apprehensive;
they think we are going to shut down Lagos; they think movement would be
restricted and they are bracing themselves for what they anticipate would be
the hardship that would be visited on them by the president’s visit and our own
activities.
“The purpose of this press
conference is to clarify that and to state emphatically that there will be from
zero to minimal adverse effect of the President’s visit tomorrow. I repeat,
there will be between zero to the barest minimum amount of disruptions to the
normal movement that Lagosians undertake on a Saturday like tomorrow.
“So, there will not be any road
closures in Lagos tomorrow and Lagosians are free to go about their normal
businesses tomorrow, Saturday,” Lawanson said.
He said adequate arrangement had
been firmed up to ensure free flow of traffic, but that residents should expect
tight security around the routes which the President is expected to pass
through in the course of his visit and the venue of the rally.
“We would just like to
communicate that because we are expecting a high caliber personality no less a
person than the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the normal
security precautions that attend a visit of this nature should be expected.
“The President would visit Lagos
tomorrow with the full retinue of security aides that protect him and his
entourage but there will not be any road closures and there will be zero to
minimal disruptions of normal activities,” the Commissioner said.
Lawanson, who addressed the
briefing alongside the General Manager of Lagos State Traffic Management
Authority (LASTMA), Mr Wale Musa and the Lagos State Sector Commander of the
Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Hyginus Omeje, said there would be huge
presence of officials of the police, LASTMA, FRSC and other agencies to ensure
free flow of traffic around the Surulere axis.
“Around the venue of the rally
which is the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere and the adjourning streets are
traffic management agencies such as LASTMA, FRSC, Police and other agencies
that would support them tomorrow.
“They will handle the traffic
management around the venue tomorrow and so people can expect to see a huge
presence of our traffic management officers fully on ground to ensure that there
is free flow of traffic. We consider it important to clarify this so that we
can communicate to Lagosians and give them the assurance that Lagos and
especially Surulere would not be on lockdown,” the Commissioner said.
Also speaking, Musa said LASTMA
would be deploying tow trucks to promptly evacuate any broken down vehicle and
adequate personnel to tackle any gridlock that may arise from the President’s
visit and the activities around the Surulere.
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