Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government and China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC) are close to sealing the deal on the construction of the N43.2 billion Ibadan Inland Dry Port.
The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) made this known in a statement on Saturday in Lagos.
The council said that the 80,000 twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) capacity dry port would be built on the basis of Public-Private Partnership between the Nigerian government and private stakeholders.
Mrs Rakiya Zubairu, NSC Head of Public Relations, said in the statement that CRCC was the preferred bidder for the facility, which will address congestion and gridlocks in the Apapa ports.
Mrs Zubairu also noted that the NSC would be the guarantor to the concession of the project.
She explained that the facility would be designated as a port of destination where cargoes would be consolidated for import and export, especially in the South-Western part of Nigeria.
“Among other uses, the dry port will provide a competitive cargo sorting centre, bulk breaking as well as cargo-tracking and truck management services.
“The Lagos-Kano standard gauge railway currently under construction is aligned to the proposed dry port, making it easy to convey cargo from the seaports in Lagos and to all destinations along the route.
“The negotiations emphasised the utilisation of local content at each stage of development and operation of the facility,” she said.
According to Mrs Zubairu, an updated Full Business Case Compliance report will be published at the end of the ongoing negotiations.
Afterwards, a draft agreement would be presented to the Federal Ministry of Justice and sent to the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, (ICRC) for vetting, after which the Minister of Transportation would present the agreement to the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
The NSC spokesperson said that the concessionaire would then be taken to the site for sod-turning and immediate commencement of construction with a completion timeline of 12 months.
“The negotiation was moderated by the Federal Ministry of Transportation led by the acting Permanent Secretary and the Director, Maritime Services, Mr Auwalu Suleiman.
“The Director-General of ICRC, Mr Chidi Izuwa. Amb. Jummai Katagum, who represented the Federal Ministry of Finance was also part of the 4-day negotiation.
“Also present, was Mrs Olubamiwo Adeosun, Secretary to Government of Oyo State and the preferred bidder CRCC was led by Deputy Managing Director, Jacques Liao,” Mrs Zubairu added.
She said that NSC Executive Secretary, Mr Hassan Bello, expressed satisfaction with the proceedings as all parties expressed firm commitment to the actualisation of the project.
According to her, facilitation of the meeting was enabled by the transaction advisors, Messrs Aminu Dikko and Mohammed Kumalia, adding that the negotiations would be concluded soon.
