The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said the Independence Bridge had to be closed for repairs to avoid disaster.
Sanwo-Olu has, however, apologized to residents in the state over the hours-long gridlock on Wednesday.
The closure of the Independence Bridge left thousands of commuters stranded in traffic between Wednesday night and early Thursday.
Following the development, the Minister of Works, David Umahi, ordered the re-opening of the bridge to ease the traffic congestion.
However, speaking to reporters on Thursday during a visit to the bridge to inspect the level of work, Sanwo-Olu said, “First, I think what is appropriate is really to first tender apologies to all our citizens and to all Lagosians for the very, very difficult, erroneous practices that we experienced in the last 24 hours in the city and within the island of Lagos.
“I think this apology is important so that we can take full responsibility as a government, both at the national and sub-national levels, for just taking our people through an unfortunate incident.
“It was all well intended, it was all for good causes, and it was all for us to avert a future disaster that was waiting to happen.”
