Just In : Buhari Okays $4.7bn Ondo, Lagos, Delta Ports Development
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved port development projects worth $4,713,841,477 in Ondo, Lagos and Delta States.
The council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday gave the go ahead for the development of Ondo Multi-Purpose Port, Ilaje, Snake Island in Lagos and Burutu in Delta State.
The Minister of State for Transportation, Prince Ademola Adegoroye, who briefed correspondents on the matter after the meeting, said the projects are to be executed through public private partnership arrangement at no cost to the federal government.
He said the Ondo port will cost the private developers the sum of $1,480,465,253 and would be concessioned for a period of 50 years with the accruals to the concessionaire and the federal government expected to be $50 billion and $2.6billion, respectively.
He said the Burutu port will cost $1,285,005,818; concessioned for 40 years with the concessionaire and the federal government expected to reap $125billion and $9 billion respectively.
The Snake Island Port will gulp $974,185,203 and be concessioned for 45 years with the concessionaire and the federal government receiving $18billion and $5.23billion respectively in accruals within the period.
Adegoroye stated: “Today the Federal Ministry of Transportation presented before the Federal Executive Council, under the chairmanship of Mr. President and the memos are for, one the approval for the expansion and development of Snake Island Seaport in Lagos State, through public/private partnership arrangement.
“The second is for the expansion and developments of the Burutu Seaport project. Burutu is in Delta State. Burutu Port project, again through public/private partnership.
“The last but not the least, and probably the most important, the Ondo Multipurpose Port in Ilaje, Ondo State and I’m pleased to announce to you, gentlemen of the press, that the Federal Executive Council today considered the memos that we presented, looked at them thoroughly, checked if the processes and procedures have been complied with and graciously approved the three memos, at no cost to the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We’re of the opinion that by the grace of God we’re expanding the maritime space in Nigeria, we’ll be creating more and better employment for our people, we’re facilitating both local and international trades.”
“On behalf of the government and of people of Ondo State, because that’s where I come from, let me use this opportunity to appreciate Mr. President and the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria, for this wonderful feat that we’ve achieved today.
“I can tell you that Ondo State has been on this project since 2004, during the Olusegun Agagu days, when we tried to establish a seaport around the Olokola Free Trade Zone, we’ve not succeeded all these years, but today, God has made it possible for us, through President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Transportation, Alhaji Muazu Jaji.
“I recall that when I was graciously appointed as minister by Mr. President, the mandates that my state gave to me was basically two; one, go and get the Ado-Ikere-Akure Road started and secondly, go to the FEC and ensure that Ondo gets a port approved for us. By the grace of God, we have made history and my ministerial journey has been a most fulfilling one.”
On the specifics of the ports, the Minister said: “Let me start with the Snake Island Port. For Snake Island Port, the total investment by the private investors will be $974,185,203.66 and we expect that the investors will get $18 billion over the period of 45 years concession period. The federal government will have $5.23 billion and the ICRC will get $94.9 million.
“For Burutu, the concession period is 40 years unlike the Snake Island, which is 45 years. The total projected and revenue to the concessionaire, federal government and the ICRC; the concessionaire is expected to have a revenue of $125 billion.
“The federal government is expected to get a revenue of $9 billion, for spending nothing, and the ICRC is expected to rake in a revenue of $627 million as well. The total investment (capital) by the investors is $1,285,005,818.40.
“For Ondo Port, the total investment capital of $1,480,465,253, to be fully financed by the private investors. Concession period is 50 years and the expected revenue; $59 billion will go to the private investors, $2.63 billion will go to the federal government and the ICRC will expectedly rake in a sum of $295 million.”
In his remarks, Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, announced that FEC approved the renaming of the Federal Ministry of Aviation to the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace.
He explained that the renaming became necessary because aviation is on the exclusive list.
According to him, since aviation and aerospace are intertwined, Nigeria needs to proactively set its policies to align with future occurrence.
Sirika also announced that FEC approved the concessioning of the Nnamdi Azikiwe international Airport, Abuja and the Mallam Aminu Kano international airport in Kano.
He said the Abuja airport will be concessioned for 20 years while that of Kano will be concessioned for 30 years.
