The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has said that he was unaware of the closure of the Independence Bridge in Lagos State.
The ex-governor of Ebonyi State made this known while speaking to journalists during a visit to the site on Thursday in Lagos.
Umahi said it was “very unfortunate” that the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, Mrs Olukorede Keisha, would unilaterally take a decision of that magnitude without his approval.
He stated that such a major decision, especially in a city like Lagos, should have been discussed at the ministerial level before execution.
The minister, who took responsibility for the situation, however, promised disciplinary action against Keisha for her actions.
He said, “I was not informed. The controller did that on her own, and it’s very unfortunate. Because for a bridge to be closed, especially in Lagos, as, you know, as it has been the tradition, I should be informed as the minister. And we should also have studied the implications of it, even though it’s an emergency situation. We would have deployed an emergency evaluation of the implications of closing the bridge.
“Was there any other thing we would have done? And then why do we take time to do the proper work?
“And so I use the opportunity to warn all controllers and engineers all over the country. Never you close the route or close any bridge without going through the Permanent Secretary, who will seek permission from the Honorable Minister of Works. And so there will be consequences, disciplinary action for this.”
Umahi also issued a public apology to Lagos residents and President Bola Tinubu for the disruptions caused by the closure.
He added, “Let me apologise to Lagosians and Mr. President for the trouble this closure caused the entire Lagosians and of course, the nation. I take responsibility for it, even though I did not order it. But every action by any staff or minister of works, I take responsibility for that.
“So I’m not shying away from the failure that this sudden closure caused. If we were to do this properly, there would be a different kind of statement we would have deployed. And we wouldn’t have necessitated total closure.
“And even if we were going to close, we would have done it in such a way that we take three days- Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then we would have put in place the remedial work that would be necessary. So what we are doing now is to restore the bridge temporarily within the next three days. By Sunday, this place will be totally open. And then after two weeks, we will look at the settlements. Then, we will take three days to put up the permanent structure. That is what we’re going to do.”
