By LYDIA CHIGOZIE-NGWAKWE

Sen. Dave Umahi, Minister of Works has apologised to Lagos residents and President Bola Tinubu for the disruption caused by the sudden closure of the Independence Bridge.

Umahi made the apology when he visited the bridge site in Lagos on Thursday.

He said that the closure of the bridge was for urgent rehabilitation of the collapsed return wall, carried out without his knowledge or authorisation by the Federal Controller of Works, Lagos.

He said: ?But unfortunately, when the bridge was to be closed, 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, has been the tradition. I should be informed as the minister.

?And we should also have studied the implication of it, even though it?s an emergency situation, we would have deployed emergency evaluation of the implication of closing the bridge.

?Was there any other thing we would have done? And then why we take time to do the proper work?.

Umahi warned that controllers and engineers would face disciplinary action should this type of incident happen again.

?I use the opportunity to warn all controllers and engineers all over the country, never you close a road or close any bridge without running through the permanent secretary, who will seek for the permission from the Honorable Minister of works,? he said.

The minister acknowledged the efforts of the Lagos State Government in managing traffic flow during the closure, which he said eased the gridlock.

He also took responsibility for the error, stating, ?I take responsibility for it, even though I did not order it, but every action by any staff or ministry of works, I take responsibility for that.?

Umahi acknowledged that the closure, which caused significant traffic congestion, was avoidable.

He said: ?If we?re to do this properly, there would have been a different kind of method deployed and wouldn?t have necessitated the total closure?.

He further explained that even if closure was necessary, it would have been done in such a way that it would take three days: Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and necessary remedial work would have been put in place before the remedial.

Umahi outlined a plan for immediate restoration, saying, ?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.?

He added that a permanent solution would be implemented after a two-week assessment period.

?And then, after two weeks, we will look at the settlements, and then we will take out three days to put the permanent structure. That is what we are going to do,? he said.

The Minister emphasised the competence of the contractor, Build Well, highlighting their experience in bridge restoration.

?Build Well is a reputable company, and they have been restoring a lot of failures on our bridges in Lagos, some of them 53 years old, but are very reputable in handling these bridges.

?Some bridges spans have been lifted up, especially Eko Bridge, Marina Bridge, and even the Lagos-Ibadan Bridge, they are also intervening in all of them,? he added.

The minister also said that the design of the bridge would be varied to address the emergency situation.

He said: ?And so we have discussed, we are going to vary the design. The design will be varied according to the emergency situation we?ve had on ground. And the contractor is going to cooperate with us?.

He pledged to personally oversee the restoration efforts, saying ?I?m not going until the bridge is fully restored by Sunday, we will workday and night to restore it, and then we will evaluate it?.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the bridge was initially closed on April 1 for essential maintenance and rehabilitation works, with the government planning to complete the repairs by May. (NAN)

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