Transport ministry records progress on Ibaka, Badagry deep seaports

Documentation progress has so far been recorded towards commencement of construction works on the proposed deep seaports at Ibaka in Akwa Ibom State and Badagry in Lagos State.

This is as the Federal Ministry of Transport has inaugurated the Steering and Project Development Committee for the construction of both seaports through public private partnerships.

“I am happy to say that considerable progress has been recorded resulting in the appointment of a transaction adviser for Ibaka seaport, who indeed has submitted initial Due Diligence Report to the Project Steering and Development Committee in line with the ICRC Act 2005,” said Idris Umar, minister of transport, at the opening ceremony of Nigerian Maritime Expo held recently in Lagos.

The Due Diligence Report, he said, is to verify the project’s initial feasibility from financial, technical and legal perspectives, and to design a structured approach to subsequent phases.

“The vision for the project, commercial rationale and operation status, technical scope and main challenges,” he said, “have been concluded. The second phase, which is the outline business case and procurement process report, is to be concluded before the end of June, while the groundbreaking ceremony for the commencement of the Lekki port development will be performed soon.”