Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, stated that it was not an easy decision to ban commercial motorcycles while seeking re-election.
The governor made this statement onThursday at the maiden summit on non-oil exports organised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in collaboration with the Bankers’ committee in Lagos.
Read Also: Lagos Govt Introduces Anti-Okada Squad To Collaborate With Police
Sanwo-Olu explained that such a difficult decision was made for the best of the people and not a political action.
He affirmed that the nuisance Okada brings to the city will be eradicated totally and there will be smooth movement of goods and services in Lagos.
Read Also: Okada Ban: Lagos Police Arrests 50 Persons After Attack On Officers
Sanwo-Olu stated:
For us, as a government is to continue to be able to come up with policies and programmes that will ease doing business in our state and our communities.
And so, when we took the initiative to say we also wanted to ban okada a couple of weeks ago, people never believed that it was meant to happen. It was going to be a thing that we can do. I want to thank all of you for the support we’ve recorded so far.
He noted:
But I want to assure you that the things that we have seen will continue in the momentum and we can take that part of the nuisance we have in the city. We can take it away finally, and we can have a smooth movement of goods or services in Lagos without any hindrance of okada.
It’s not too easy. When in a political terrain, especially when you’re going for re-election and like I said, you are jumping up and down. You have to make a decision that is so critical like that, and stay within because indeed a lot of people believe that everything that politicians do must have a political meaning but sometimes, we stay with our words and indeed believe the need to ensure that you know that people benefit from it greatly.
It should be recalled that last month, the Lagos state government announced the ban on okada operations in six LGAs of the state
The ban which took effect on June 1 affected six local government areas – Ikeja, Surulere, Eti Osa, Lagos Mainland, Lagos Island and Apapa.
