Lagos –  Labour leaders on Friday called the fixing and expansion of the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway in Lagos before it is concessioned.

The union chiefs were reacting to the planned concessioning of the road which leads to Lagos ports.

There are indications that the Federal Government may concession the expressway, which is always experiencing traffic gridlock because of the portholes on it and the indiscriminate parking of articulated vehicles.

Comrade Tunde Abdulrahaman, President, Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the road should be rehabilitated to justify the tolls that would be collected after concessioning.

“People will want to know if the road will be repaired and if it will be expanded because they will now pay for using it,’’ he said.

Comrade Sunday Salako, President, Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions, urged that the concessioning should eliminate traffic gridlock on the dual carriageway.

He also said that repair and expansion of the road would justify tolls to be collected by the concessionaires.

Comrade Bede Opara, President, Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, urged that the concessioning should not be made to result in increase in transport fares.

“My fear is that those who ply the Apapa/Oshodi route would be forced to pay more for their goods and services,’’ he said.

Opara noted that provision of good roads was the responsibility of governments and urged the government to control fares on the road.

The Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had on May 16 in Lagos, said that the road had been cleared of parked tankers by a combined team of the Presidential Port Reform Committee and the Lagos State Government. (NAN)