FACT CHECK: Did Sanwo-Olu promise to fix Apapa gridlock in 60 days?

On Tuesday, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos state, denied promising to clear the Apapa gridlock within his first 60 days in office. While addressing state house correspondents in Abuja, the governor said he was misquoted on the issue.

The congestion in Apapa is worsened by trucks parked on bridges and roads in the area referred to as the gateway to the nation’s economy due to the location of sea ports. A presidential task force is currently working to address the challenge which is said to be causing Nigeria over N200 billion investment.

WHAT THE MEDIA REPORTED ON SANWO-OLU

During an interactive session with his classmates at the executive master of business administration class, University of Lagos, 1998/2000 set, the governor was quoted as saying his government will do whatever is required to fix the gridlock within 60 days.

He reportedly said: “The Apapa trailer issue; it’s a campaign issue; it’s very serious; I’m going to take it very seriously. I believe that it is something that we are going to solve in the first 60 days of our government. Whatever is going to be required of us, we will take them out.”

WHAT SANWO-OLU CLAIMED HE SAID

The governor said he had promised to review and not fix the gridlock within 60 days.

According to him, “What I said was that in 60 days, we would review what was done but that does not take the fact that even if people give you dateline, it’s because they want you to do well and they want you to be able to be accountable for those datelines. The real construction of the road has started, but it’s not at the stage in which we can feel the full impact of it.”

HOW TRUE IS THIS?

TheCable did some background checks and discovered the governor’s claim that he made no such commitment is untrue. A recording of the speech he made during the interactive session was analysed and indeed, he gave a timeline of 60 days for clearing the gridlock.

His words: “Even the Apapa trailer issue… it’s a campaign issue; it’s very serious; I’m going to take it very very seriously. I believe that it is something that we are going to solve in the first 60 days of our government. Whatever is going to be required of us, we will take them out. I can tell you from day one, it is one of the places I have been to. Whatever it will require of us, we will take them out. We cannot continue to give excuses.”

Listen to the recording below:

VERDICT: Sanwo-Olu actually promised to clear the Apapa gridlock within 60 days.