Gbemisola Saraki, minister of state for transportation, has reaffirmed the position of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for the total reconstruction of the failed quay walls of Tin-Can Island Port Complex which have become weak due to age.
Speaking during her tour of the Lagos Port Complexes on Monday 20th June 2022, Saraki said it is vital that Nigeria get the two very important ports modernised, and ready to berth modern vessels.
According to her, the state of the ports shows decades of neglect but it is better late than never as the saying goes.
BusinessDay understands that the Minister’s position is in harmony with that of Mohammed Bello-Koko, managing director of the NPA, who had allayed fears of the imminent collapse of the Tin-Can Port.
He had said that the Authority is already concluding funding options which include talks with competent multilateral funding institutions and possible use of a percentage of the revenue or transfers to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) to finance the reconstruction.
Read also: NPA shops for over $600m to reconstruct Tin-Can Port
He said NPA transfers about N60 billion a year to CRF and can use about 50 percent of that to repair Tin-Can.
Recall that Bello-Koko had severally drawn attention to the fact that although the NPA had over the years been undertaking remedial works on the quays, the time has come for a holistic reconstruction and the Authority is working with the Federal Ministry of Transportation on the most prudent funding option.
He listed hybrid funding where NPA funds part and multilateral agencies fund the rest as another funding option. He said the final option is for the terminal operators to fund the reconstruction but worries that not all the terminal operators have the same financial capacity or will be able to source funds at the same time, which may impact delivery.
“Cognizant of the urgency of the situation on the ground, we might soon be meeting Federal Executive Council for approvals. We have started working on securing a holistic interim and conceptual design for the port, and will eventually get the final design to move unto the Procurement process,” he added.
