Contractors are responsible for accidents on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, says Gov Abiodun

Gov Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, said contractors handling the Lagos-Ibadan expressway construction should be held accountable for accidents on the road for failing to provide safety signs.

Gov Abiodun, while conducting an on-the-spot assessment of the Ogere toll gate end of the reconstruction work on Wednesday, read the riot acts, saying the failure of the contractors to put safety signs on the road had in recent times led to the unfortunate but preventable loss of lives and carnage of the country’s busiest route.

The road, which witnessed another accident in the early hours of Wednesday, claimed five lives. Another accident a few hours later also claimed three lives while 15 persons sustained varying degrees of injuries.

Abiodun commiserated with the affected families and said he would take the issue up with the Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, to ensure expeditious completion of the rehabilitation works that has been on for decades.

He said, “I am going to take this up with the Minister of Works. This contractor has to be held accountable; we cannot continue to pussyfoot around a project that is so important, particularly around this corridor.

“I want to call on the contractor handling this project to expedite action. We cannot take any more excuses on this project. We are going to be holding them responsible for any accident because safety measures are not in place; no safety signs and this is just an unnecessary loss of lives for us.

“We have had too many of these types of sad days on our major highways in Ogun State, but of particular note is the recurrence of this type of incidents around this corridor of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.”

Abiodun, while noting that the drivers of the trucks involved in the accident could not be totally blamed for the accident as a result of the inability of the contractor to provide all the necessary safety signs, added that the construction had “been too protracted.”

He added “These people (drivers alone) cannot be faulted; construction is ongoing, there are no proper safety signs. Anywhere in the world, there would be enough signs that would tell whoever it is that is on the road that the road is now a dual carriageway.

“Obviously, the man coming from Ibadan assumed that he was the only one headed in the direction and was not expecting the tanker that pulled out of the fuel station.”

Abiodun further urged road users around the corridor to take their time while driving through the area.

On November 11th 2015, Fashola was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari to be the Minister of Power, Works and Housing; he was reappointed Minister of Works & Housing on 21 August 2019.