Lekki Truck Operators Demand Urgent Overhaul Of Call-Up System
By Sherif Salau
Truck operators and maritime stakeholders have called for an urgent review of the electronic call-up system along the Lekki–Epe corridor, saying the current arrangement is failing to keep pace with the realities of daily operations and is contributing to fresh traffic bottlenecks.
The demand emerged from a high-level transport stakeholders’ meeting chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, Mr Maroof Olawale Musa. Representatives of the Lagos State Truck and Cargo Operators Committee (LASTCOC) and other industry players told the gathering that the existing system needs significant reforms if it is to deliver the orderly truck movement it was designed to achieve.
According to LASTCOC Chairman Mr Zangalo, the call-up arrangement along the Lekki–Epe axis no longer adequately reflects the operational pressures on the corridor. “The existing truck call-up arrangement along the Lekki–Epe axis requires further review to address emerging traffic challenges and ensure that the system adequately reflects the realities of operations along the corridor,” he said.
Stakeholders pointed to several interconnected problems. Delays in cargo evacuation from the ports, they noted, directly extend truck turnaround times and push congestion onto the access roads. Glitches in the Epe Electronic Call-Up System have left some scheduled trucks stranded and unable to enter the Lekki Deep Sea Port. Unauthorised trucks from unregistered parks continue to infiltrate the area, while the practice of indiscriminate staging of heavy-duty vehicles along major routes remains a persistent headache.
Operators also argued that they often carry the immediate financial and operational burden of wider systemic inefficiencies within the port and cargo evacuation chain. Terminal operators’ practices, they insisted, form a critical part of any lasting solution.
The meeting also reviewed the older Apapa truck call-up system, with calls for reduced human intervention and stronger digital tools that would make truck movement more predictable, transparent and efficient. Participants agreed that solutions must tackle the root causes rather than merely manage the symptoms that appear on the roads.
In response, the state government urged truck operators on the Lekki axis to organise themselves better and to comply strictly with the established call-up and traffic management rules. Officials made clear that the objective is not the collection of fines but the restoration of order and sanity on the corridor.
The Lekki–Epe electronic call-up system was introduced to prevent the kind of gridlock that once paralysed Apapa. With the corridor now home to the Lekki Deep Sea Port, the Dangote Refinery and the Lekki Free Zone, daily truck volumes are expected to rise sharply.
Thousands of trucks and transporters have already registered on the platform. Yet the latest stakeholders’ discussions show that registration alone is not enough.
