The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola , has called on the two major transport unions in the nation to remove their articulated vehicles causing obstruction on federal highways.
Fashola gave the directive during an inspection tour of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Friday.
The minister said that his ministry will soon recover its Right of Way (ROW) illegally occupied by such articulated vehicles.
He said:“Highways are also not places to park articulated vehicles and trucks.
“So, I am using this opportunity to appeal to Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), in their own best interest, to leave our highways.
“The Right of Way (ROW) on the federal highway is 45 metres from the centre line; that is, from the middle, 45 metres on both sides.
“That is the ROW conferred by law and we would take that right back for the benefit of all commuters on our highways.”
Fashola said that articulated vehicles parking on the road constituted static load that could cause both road degeneration and accidents.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Fashola, who was travelling from Ilorin to Lagos, had earlier inspected the Oyo-Ogbomosho Expressway.
He said that the Ilorin-Jebba Road had been repaired, but articulated vehicles were now parking on the good portion of the road.
Fashola also complained over the recklessness of drivers on the highway which had been causing road accidents.
He said that he saw several accidents on the good portions of the highway caused by recklessness and negligence.
The minister said that the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) would soon begin a clampdown on drivers that were not qualified to drive on the roads.
“We have seen a couple of accidents this morning; they happened on the very best sections that have been repaired.
“The road itself will not deliver the kind of life we want if we don’t play by the rules for operating the vehicles,” he said.