A joint technical inspection conducted by the Federal Ministry of Works and the Lagos State Government has formally absolved the Otedola Bridge corridor of inherent engineering defects, attributing its history of fatal crashes entirely to overloaded vehicles, mechanical failures, and driver indiscipline.
Presenting the findings on Saturday, during the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation’s annual media parley in Ikeja, the Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi, stated that physical examinations confirmed the bridge’s structural integrity remains fully intact. Engineering assessments corroborated by the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers verified that the highway’s design gradient – measured at 3.6 per cent on the outward Ibadan-bound carriageway – complies fully with national and international civil engineering standards.
The engineering clearance follows a catastrophic incident on Monday evening, 19 October 2026, when an articulated diesel-laden tanker suffered complete brake failure at high speed, plunged off the bridge deck, and exploded on the Berger-bound lane of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, leaving two victims critically injured with severe burns. The ensuing fire triggered renewed public concern over whether the highway’s road geometry was inherently flawed.
Official records released by the General Manager of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Olalekan Bakare-Oki, underscored the corridor’s persistent hazard profile, recording 361 vehicular breakdowns and traffic accidents resulting in 15 fatalities between January and September 2026 along the stretch between Otedola Bridge and Kara.
The joint investigation identified regulatory enforcement gaps, specifically the absence of functional weighbridges, as the primary factor permitting overloaded, mechanically unroadworthy heavy-duty vehicles to ply the expressway. To address the challenge, the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Olufemi Dare, has submitted a formal proposal to the Minister of Works requesting the immediate installation of permanent weighbridges beneath the bridge and at critical feeder entry points.
In addition to integrating enforcement controls with ongoing federal road resurfacing schemes, the Lagos State Government has expanded joint electronic monitoring with the Federal Road Safety Corps while initiating inter-state regulatory talks with Ogun State authorities and haulage unions to enforce mandatory pre-transit mechanical safety certifications before heavy trucks enter Lagos corridors.
