The governorship candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in Akwa Ibom State, Michael Enyong, has promised to start construction of the long-delayed Ibom Deep Seaport within 90 days of assuming workplace in 2027. He stated he would relocate the venture from Ibeno to Ibaka and usher in non-public buyers.
Mr Enyong, a former member of the House of Representatives, stated the proposed relocation was vital as a result of the Ibeno location was too shallow and would require costly dredging, making the venture much less enticing to buyers.
He made the recent commitments whereas talking with PREMIUM TIMES on 1 November, following his earlier pledge throughout a visit to the Akwa Ibom State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Uyo.
The NDC governorship candidate insisted that the 90-day promise was not merely about initiating discussions or conducting feasibility research however about commencing precise construction.
“Within the first 90 days, I will get it going,” he stated, including that he already had an American investor who was totally ready to take part within the venture and one other potential investor from France.
The pledge introduces a brand new dimension to the talk over the seaport, a multibillion-dollar infrastructure venture that has featured prominently in Akwa Ibom’s improvement plans for greater than twenty years however has but to succeed in the construction stage.
The presidential candidate of the NDC within the forthcoming 2027 election, Peter Obi has additionally dedicated to growing the Ibom Deep Seaport if elected.
Dispute over location
Mr Enyong stated the venture was initially conceived because the Ibaka Deep Seaport below former Governor Victor Attah however was subsequently renamed Ibom Deep Seaport and moved in the direction of the Ibeno axis throughout the administration of former Governor Udom Emmanuel.
He stated he would retain the identify Ibom Deep Seaport as a result of the venture is registered and accredited below that identify, however he would return the venture to Ibaka, arguing that the placement presents a extra appropriate pure harbour and would scale back dredging prices.
“The moment you return it to Ibaka, investors will know that they won’t spend too much money on dredging an artificial location because the water there is shallow,” he stated.
The location of the venture has, nevertheless, been a topic of disagreement for years.
In December 2014, Vanguard reported that the proposed port had been moved from Ibaka to Ibeno after consultants reportedly concluded that Ibaka wouldn’t be commercially viable due to its distance from the ocean.
The Akwa Ibom State Government subsequently defended the placement choice, saying specialists had assessed totally different websites primarily based on viability and accessibility earlier than choosing a location spanning elements of Mbo and Ibeno native authorities areas.
Mr Enyong didn’t present any new technical feasibility research to help his assertion that returning the venture to Ibaka would make it extra commercially viable than the present proposed location.
The $2 billion query
Mr Enyong stated the venture didn’t require a recent presidential approval or Governor Umo Eno’s defection to the All Progressives Congress as a result of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), below the late President Muhammadu Buhari, had already accredited its first part on 16 December 2020.
He stated the accredited first-phase funding of $2.016 billion might be raised by way of a mix of personal funding and contributions from the state and federal governments.
According to him, the non-public investor would supply 50 per cent of the funding, whereas the 2 tiers of presidency would supply the remaining 50 per cent.
He argued that Akwa Ibom might comfortably finance its contribution, citing the state’s income inflows below Governor Eno.
“Assuming we divide the money in half, the state’s portion is very affordable to achieve considering that in the last 42 months, the state has gotten over N3.7 trillion,” he stated.
He estimated the state’s contribution at $400 million, equal to roughly N538.59 billion on the trade price of N1,346.47 to the greenback on 1 November.
But the financing association he described differs from the construction publicly introduced when the FEC approval was secured.
In December 2020, the then Akwa Ibom Commissioner for Economic Development and Ibom Deep Seaport, Akan Okon, said the primary part would value $2.016 billion, with non-public buyers offering 60 per cent and the general public sector contributing 40 per cent.
The distinction is noteworthy for the reason that public sector’s 40 per cent share would quantity to $806.4 million, whereas the non-public sector’s 60 per cent would quantity to $1.2096 billion.
If the general public sector contribution have been shared equally between the state and federal governments, Akwa Ibom’s share can be $403.2 million, near Mr Enyong’s estimate of $400 million.
However, he didn’t clarify why he was utilizing a 50-50 funding association relatively than the beforehand introduced 60-40 public-private partnership construction.
He additionally didn’t present paperwork figuring out the American and French buyers he stated have been able to take part, their proposed monetary commitments, or whether or not they had entered into any formal agreements with him or the venture authorities.
Asked how he would safe the federal authorities’s contribution, Mr Enyong stated the state should first exhibit dedication to the venture.
He argued that the federal authorities can be inspired to take part as soon as the state confirmed seriousness, including that the venture might proceed even with out federal funding.
“But even if the federal government fails to invest, don’t we have the $800 million? It is our project that will turn around things,” he stated.
When reminded that the $2.016 billion approval coated solely the primary part and that the general venture was estimated at $4.6 billion, Mr Enyong stated attracting additional buyers would change into simpler as soon as construction commenced.
“When you start a project and people begin to see where you are going, don’t others join?” he requested.
The candidate maintained that he would start construction within his first 90 days in workplace.
Budgetary allocations, questions over spending
The proposed seaport has continued to function in Akwa Ibom’s annual budgets below Mr Eno, though the extent of precise spending on the venture stays tough to search out out from publicly obtainable monetary information.
A PREMIUM TIMES evaluate of the state’s accredited budgets reveals that N7.36 billion was allotted to the construction of the Deep Seaport and Industrial City in 2026.
The state allotted N2 billion in 2025 and N2.6 billion in 2024. No allocation was recognized for the venture within the state’s 2023 revised price range.
However, PREMIUM TIMES couldn’t independently confirm how a lot the Eno administration had really spent on the venture as a result of the state’s latest price range efficiency experiences and audited monetary statements don’t element capital expenditures.
PREMIUM TIMES beforehand reported that Mr Eno’s administration acquired not less than N2.934 trillion in public income within its first 38 months. However, the state stopped publishing detailed income receipts and capital expenditure information, making it tough to independently observe income inflows and spending on particular person infrastructure tasks.
A subsequent evaluation of the state’s income information reveals that the administration’s income had risen to not less than N3.218 trillion within 41 months in workplace. This excludes internally generated income and the State’s 13 per cent derivation refunds for May and June 2023.
In April, Mr Eno received the seaport’s feasibility report from a technical committee led by Mfon Usoro, a former director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency.
The governor stated his administration had funded feasibility research, ready investor paperwork, carried out geophysical and geotechnical assessments and established a venture workplace.
The technical committee additionally reported progress on monetary modelling, due diligence and worldwide bidding, with most popular bidders rising.
Mr Eno subsequently held discussions with potential venture companions in Paris in June, searching for clearer implementation timelines and funding commitments.
The governor has described the venture as a long-term enterprise requiring cautious planning and sustainable funding.
Other guarantees, political historical past
Beyond the seaport, Mr Enyong, throughout his NUJ go to, promised scholarships, free tuition and automated employment for indigent medical college students who full their coaching.
He stated beneficiaries would obtain enticing remuneration, arguing that the initiative would assist tackle shortages of healthcare professionals and discourage expert medical personnel from leaving the state.
He additionally promised to equip present public healthcare amenities relatively than set up new hospitals with out offering the required gear and operational help.
On employment, he claimed to have facilitated jobs for greater than 200 residents by way of the Human Resource Information System, promising to broaden such interventions if elected.
Mr Enyong beforehand contested for the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship ticket in 2023, however misplaced to Mr Eno.
In February 2023, PREMIUM TIMES reported {that a} court docket order had replaced Mr Eno with Mr Enyong because the PDP’s governorship candidate, triggering a authorized dispute over the social gathering’s ticket. The next court docket subsequently put aside the order in favour of Mr Eno.
His 2027 ambition additionally comes within the face of political discussions over zoning, an off-the-cuff association below which the state’s governorship is predicted to rotate amongst its three senatorial districts.
Mr Enyong represented the Uyo/Uruan/Nsit Atai/Ibesikpo Asutan Federal Constituency within the House of Representatives between 2015 and 2023. The constituency is in Uyo Senatorial District, which is favoured within the present zoning discussions to provide the subsequent governor.
The query of whether or not a governor elected in 2027 ought to search a second time period in 2031 for the reason that governorship is predicted to rotate to Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District might additionally affect political alignments. Mr Enyong didn’t state his place on a potential second time period throughout the NUJ engagement.
Responding to his go to, the NUJ State Chairman, Nsibiet John, stated the union remained non-partisan and supplied political stakeholders with alternatives to current their programmes to journalists.
He pressured that the engagement didn’t quantity to an endorsement of Mr Enyong or his social gathering, including that journalists retained the accountability to interrogate political guarantees and report objectively within the public curiosity.
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