The Executive Director, Lagos Trade Fair Management Board, Mrs Lucy Omosefe-Ajayi, said that the management inherited moribund facilities from the former managers of the complex.
Omosefe-Ajayi made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Saturday.
According to her, the complex will host the Annual Lagos International Trade Fair only when rehabilitation works in the place are completed.
She said that works were at various stages of completion, saying that the management would not because of public demand, hurriedly stage the fair when facilities were inadequate to support an event of that magnitude
“The Exhibition halls that we met when we started were in shambles and cannot be used to execute trade promotion programmes. The Trade Fair Motel that plays a major role during the fair in the area of logistics was not habitable”.
“The five kilometre road in the complex, alongside other infrastructure, are under rehabilitation in order to support trade, ” she said.
Omosefe-Ajayi said that the management was working in line with the Federal Government Policy of Ease of Doing Business in making the place better for traders in the complex.
According to her, there is no dispute between the traders and the Federal Government on the lease agreement as government has been advised that the subsisting agreement should lapse before considering a concession of the place.
She said that the traders were the developers of the place and ought to be allowed to use the place for their trade.
She noted that there were empty lands that could be concessioned by government within the place that is currently having 13 markets occupying the complex.
The owners of the markets entered into a lease agreement with the Federal Government to develop and use for a number of years.
The glamorous Lagos International Trade Fair which holds every November is now being hosted by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos. (NAN)
