Governor Babatunde Fashola, of Lagos
State has vowed to arrest and prosecute the Lagos State Traffic Management
Authority, (LASTMA) official (Mr. Michael Ekundayo) caught negotiating bribe
inside a citizen’s car whom the governor said had brought disgrace to the
outfit.
“I want to first salute the citizen
that got the video of the LASTMA officer who was caught negotiating bribe
inside a citizen’s car. We must all nail and shame him and we must all use that
kind of medium to fish out all the bad eggs in the society and bring them to
justice.
Mr. Michael Ekundayo, who is now on
the run, was caught on video collecting N8,000 bribe from a motorist
Governor Babatunde Fashola, while addressing
a gathering of professionals and
respectable members of the society who constitute volunteers of the Special
Traffic Mayor said: “That LASTMA officer
is still on the run and we have declared him wanted. I can assure you today
that we will get him. And as soon as we do, we will give him all his rights and
he will have his day in court,” he vowed.
On LASTMA, the governor pointed out
that its primary responsibility was to keep the state traffic moving, stressing
that “this is the reason why the agency exists. Arresting traffic offenders is
secondary. If making an arrest will increase the traffic, let the offenders go.
I say this not because I don’t want law breakers to be apprehended and brought
to justice. But law breakers cannot undermine our main objective.
“The longer people stay more in
traffic, the more money is wasted and fuel is burnt and when people stay more
in traffic, this leads to increase in the price of goods in the state. But with
a moving traffic, price of goods will be stable.”
Fashola explained that the challenge
of managing traffic in Lagos State necessitated the need for the meeting with
the Special Traffic Mayors, while stressing the need to pay attention to road
safety measures for the betterment of all.
No comments:
Post a Comment