Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has apologised to residents over the severe traffic congestion caused by the repair work on the Independence Bridge.
The bridge closure, which began on Wednesday, April 2, evening, left thousands of commuters stranded, sparking outrage as images and videos of the gridlock flooded social media.
On Thursday morning, Sanwo-Olu visited the site alongside his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, and other government officials to assess the situation.
Speaking at the scene, he acknowledged the hardship caused and admitted that the government should have done more to inform the public beforehand.
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“First, I think what is appropriate is really to first tender apologies to all our citizens and to all Lagosians for the very, very difficult, erroneous practices that we experienced in the last 24 hours in the city and within the island of Lagos,” he said.
The governor stressed that the maintenance work was necessary to prevent a potential disaster but regretted the inconvenience caused.
“I think this apology is important so that we can take full responsibility as a government, both at the national and sub-national levels, for just taking our people through an unfortunate incident.
“It was all well intended, it was all for good causes, and it was all for us to avert a future disaster that was waiting to happen,” he added.
Sanwo-Olu assured residents that lessons had been learned and pledged better communication and planning for future infrastructure projects.