Residents of Lekki peninsular, home to the $1.5bn Lekki Deep seaport and the $19.5bn Dangote Refinery have expressed shock at the suspension of the Electronic Call-Up system for trucks by the Lagos State government. This is even as the residents said they expect the reinstatement of the E-Call-Up regime in two weeks.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune exclusively, President of the Lekki Estates Residents and Stakeholders Association (LERSA), Alhaji Sulyman Kolawole Bello explained that without the E-Call-Up, trucks and petroleum tanker drivers will create chaos in Lekki peninsular.
According to the LERSA President, “We understand that the suspension was carried out in-order to allow for more consultations. However, that has to be done very quickly. We expect the E-Call-up regime to be back on Lekki roads in two weeks’ time because without that, there will be chaos on Lekki roads.
“We cannot cope without the E-Call-Up system. Its implementation is sacrosanct. Apapa did not resolve until the implementation of the E-Call-Up system. The E-Call-up system is the only way to restore sanity on Lekki roads.
“We know that truckers and petroleum tankers will always resist regulation. That’s been their way of doing things. They always go to the extent of blackmailing and threatening government with strikes and others. We saw this coming and we know that it will take the resolve of the Lagos State government to implement E-Call-Up along the Lekki-Epe road.
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“We cannot afford that. Lekki is a residential area and we won’t allow it if the truckers won’t allow the government to implement the E-Call-Up system.”
Recall that the Lagos State government announced the suspension of the E-Call-Up system in Lekki after yielding to pressure from Petroleum tankers under the aegis of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and truckers under the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO).
