The Federal Government requires about 1.1 billion dollars reinvestment in the nation’s ports to renew the concession agreement.
This was stated by Mr. Gboyega Oyetola, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Privatization, which was looking into port concession in Abuja. He said at the moment, the concession of the ports was being delayed to allow government conclude its reinvestment plan and reconstruct the ports to meet required standard. He declared that the government would not stand by and let the ports fall apart entirely. The minister declared that the current agreement between the government and concessionaires was unacceptable while being represented by Mr. Oloruntola Michael, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry.
“Under the mordenization program of the Port, the Ministry is envisioning a major reinvestment in the port system to meet expected service delivery,” he continued, acknowledging that it had fallen short of the necessary standard.
He claims that this will be appropriate given Nigeria’s reputation and standing in the world of international trade.
“The port’s current state does not adhere to the necessary standards. The port concession will need to be seriously reevaluated in light of the anticipated investment amount.
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“As a result, the Ministry has started a process of reinvestment package for the port in coordination with the agency, the NPA in particular.”
Also speaking, Mr Mohammed Koko, Managing Director, Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA, said the proposal for renewal of the concession agreement for the ports was submitted to the Federal Executive Council in Feb. 2023.
He explained that the FEC put the renewal on hold demanding additional information, adding that one of the issues raised by FEC was investment as it relates to existing infrastructure at the ports.
Mr Ignatius Ayewoh, acting Director-General, Bureau for Public Enterprise, said that the government reinvestment plan should stop the renewal process of the concession exercise.
“I want to say that BPE was completely involved in this concessions arrangement. Monitoring has continued to this day, and some status reports based on performance will be provided for record-keeping purposes,” he stated.
The head of the House Committee on Privatization and Commercialization, Representative Ibrahim Chidari, stated that the Ministry needs to take steps to guarantee that the government doesn’t lose any revenue.
“The terminal operators were given a six-month extension twice after the agreement expired in 2021, and after that, there had been no extension,” he stated.
“There must not be a vacuum, so we don’t want them to continue operating illegally,” he stated.
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