Tanker drivers in Lagos State said they would cease loading petroleum goods on Monday because they cannot pay the Lekki-Epe Corridor’s E-Call Up system, which costs N12,500 per truck.
Obafemi Hamzat, the Lagos Deputy Governor, recently stated that the E-Call Up system was designed to govern the movement of articulated vehicles and tankers accessing the corridor, fostering orderly traffic flow and averting the bottleneck that occurred in the Apapa area.
However, tanker drivers representing the National Association of Road Transport Owners
In an interview on Sunday, NARTO President Yusuf Othman stated that the association was still in talks with the Lagos State Government about allowing its members to pay N2,500 per truck rather than N12,500.
“For now, we are still negotiating with the Lagos State Government. The N12,500 is too high. We recommended N2,500 from the beginning. Let’s see how it goes and if we can reach an amicable resolution. But if the government does not agree, our boys will not go and load tomorrow,” Othman said.
Olawale Musa, Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, responded by stating that the N12,500 will not be paid into government coffers.
According to Musa, the money was for the use of a facility erected for drivers on the Lekki axis to avoid traffic and pollution.
He noted that the facility was developed by a private investor and urged the union and drivers to follow the rules and regulations to keep the Lekki-Epe corridor from becoming the old Apapa road.
