General
FG Gives Conditions for Sustainable Port Development
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has revealed its position to discourage unsolicited port development proposals that are not based on viable projects and future developments contained in the infrastructure development plan of the government under the National Transport Policy and programmes of agencies under the sector.
This is coming as the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) embarks on the process of developing a port development master plan that would set out the policy on port infrastructure development to match the current and future economic expectations/national goals and objectives.
The Minister of Transportation, Mr Mu’azu Jaji, in his presentation titled How To Streamline The Qualification Process To Encourage The Construction Of New Ports By States For A Sustainable Nigerian Blue Economy at the recent Niger Delta Blue Economy Investment Forum confirmed that the government had received unsolicited proposals some of which were initiated by state governments including the Lekki Port which was prior to the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission Act, 2005.
He said, “Unsolicited proposals from state governments must undergo the required due diligence and procedures for constructing new ports. There is no shortcut to the process. Federal agencies also need to reduce the red-tape bureaucracies to make the process easy and seamless, observing the tenets of the ease-of-doing-Business, in order to attract Foreign Direct Investments.”
He noted that over the years, it had been observed that the bane of port development in Nigeria had been the absence of a Port Master Plan, which explained the number of unviable ports as well as urban encroachment to the port environment.
“A good example is the Lagos Ports with the attendant congestion along the port corridors. This development comes with its concomitant negative consequences on port efficiency and at a cost. This must be guarded against in future developments,” he said.
“Port development must be preceded by rigorous studies to determine both technical and economic viability. This is the only way by which we can move on the path of a sustainable Blue Economy,” he added.
The port development masterplan by the NPA was conceived to identify the gaps in infrastructure capacity; make projections on needed growth to address the capacity deficiency; and plan future development to ensure that port development is spaced out in time and over locations to ensure in time development, technology is up to date, avoid overcapacity that could result in unviable ports as in (Delta cluster of ports in the 1970s), ensure competition, and achieve economic growth, among other policy objectives.
The Minister acknowledged the legal framework governing the operation of ports in the country as in the Exclusive Legislative List contained in Part 1 of the Second Schedule of the 1999 Constitution such that all Nigerian Ports are Federal Ports with no provision for private ownership of ports in Nigeria, however, with the enactment of the ICRC Act, 2005, a window has been opened for the participation of the private sector in port development through Public-Private Partnerships arrangement.
While no private ownership of the port is currently contemplated by the country’s laws, current port development processes involve submitting a proposal for development (solicited or unsolicited), developing an outline business case and the final business case containing technical and financial details and obtaining all necessary approvals to proceed, granting of a concession for port development and operations by the Federal Government; and executing a concession agreement containing details of the concessions – performance parameters, financial provisions, technical standards, concession period (which takes into account the recoupment period, construction period and actual port operations period, reversionary rights and other relevant provisions).
Mr Jaji believed that the emergence of the PPP processes had further streamlined the qualification process for private participants in the blue economy.
“This was an enabler that made it possible for the state governments to be major promoters in the emergence of Deep Sea Ports in Nigeria. Every port has both the waterfront and the backup land area, which is within the legislation of the federal government, while the latter is within that of the state since the Certificate of Occupancy is being given by the state government,” he stated.
The Minister also acknowledged that the Blue Economy concept had developed as a sound paradigm for the comprehensive and sustainable management of marine and coastal areas and their natural resources.
He said, “Considering that Blue Economy includes activities such as fishing which involves the use of vessels/crafts that call at waterfront terminals or jetties, there is also a framework for licensing facilities in this category. This could be through the grant of jetty licenses or the designation of existing terminals as fishing terminals.
“One such process which is ongoing is for the designation of KLT I in Lagos as a fishing terminal with the hope that others will follow across the country. It needs to be stated that fishing terminals are ports used for vessel calls, just like any other facility. The involvement of NPA in this situation is the provision of the facility while the fishing activity is regulated under a different sector.
“Coherent and optimized co-existence of all sectors of activity is needed while preserving the quality of ecosystems, goods, and services in the long term.
“The Port plays a pivotal role in the development of the Blue Economy as the interface between maritime and terrestrial space.”
While acknowledging that Ports are the epicentre of many aspects of the Blue Economy, including:, tourism and leisure, fishing, aquaculture, offshore renewable energy, marine conservation, coastal protection, shipbuilding, oil, and gas, he said any call for streamlining the qualifications process for the development of new ports in a Blue Economy would be factually inaccurate with the assumption that there was hitherto no uniform standards for the qualification of new port developers.
Rather, he said the emergence of a Blue Economy would only introduce another layer or layers of qualification for new ports and facilities.
“The aspect of the Blue Economy recently introduced only added another layer or layers of qualification that had not been in existence since issues relating to the environment and its impacts on port development is a relatively recent phenomenon,” he said.
“The requirement for Environmental and Social Impact and Assessment studies in capital projects, including port infrastructure, is a relatively new concept in these climes.
“It is simply required as a major qualification that the developers of new ports MUST show how such developments will impact all aspects of the ocean, including diversity, environmental protection, commerce, the lives of members of the host communities, and the improvement of the economic prosperity of the country through the oceans,” he noted.
By Adedapo Adesanya
British prosecutors alleged that former Nigerian oil minister, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, took bribes, including luxury goods and high-end properties from industry figures interested in lucrative oil and gas contracts as her corruption trial began on Tuesday in London.
Proceedings in the alleged corruption trial of Mrs Alison-Madueke were stalled on Monday at the Crown Court in Southwark due to technical difficulties.
The 65 year old was Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources between 2010 and 2015 under then-president Goodluck Jonathan and was also briefly president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the first woman to hold either role.
Her tenure, however, has been dogged by multiple allegations of corruption, both locally and internationally, since she left office in 2015.
She was first arrested by British authorities in London in October 2015 as part of a major corruption investigation.
Since that arrest, Mrs Alison-Madueke has remained on bail while investigations continued, with the case drawing sustained attention due to its scale and the seniority of the individuals involved.
In 2023, the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) formally charged the Bayelsa State-born oil expert, accusing her of accepting bribes over a four-year period between 2011 and 2015. She was charged with five counts of accepting bribes and a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery, which she denies.
At the proceeding, Mrs Alison-Madueke sat in the dock alongside oil industry executive Mrs Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, who is charged with one count of bribery relating to Alison-Madueke and a separate count of bribery of a foreign public official. Her brother, former archbishop Doye Agama, is charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and is listening to the trial by video link for medical reasons.
Prosecutor Alexandra Healy told jurors at London’s Southwark Crown Court that Mrs Alison-Madueke “enjoyed a life of luxury in London”, where she often stayed.
The prosecutor also said this was provided by those interested in being awarded or retaining contracts with Nigerian state-owned companies, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, then a corporation.
Ms Healy said Mrs Alison-Madueke was given the use of high-end properties and vast quantities of luxury goods by people who “clearly believed she would use her influence to favour them”.
She added that there was no evidence that the accused awarded contracts to someone who should not have had one, adding that given Mrs Alison-Madueke’s role “she should not have accepted benefits from those who were no doubt doing extremely lucrative business in oil and gas with government-owned entities.”
Other benefits named include the use of a chauffeur-driven car and a private jet, as well as expensive goods including some paid for in one extravagant 2013 shopping trip to Harrods, a renowned luxury department store located in London.
She is also alleged to have had her son’s school fees paid by Nigerian businessman Benedict Peters, who is named on the indictment but is not facing trial.
Her accomplice Mrs Ayinde is charged with bribing the defendant between 2012 and 2014 and also bribing the then-managing director of NNPC, Mr Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, who is also not on trial, in 2015.
Ms Healy said that, after President Jonathan was replaced by Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, Mrs Ayinde paid a “substantial bribe” to Mr Kachikwu to ensure her friend continued to work in the NNPC.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A group known as the Niger Delta Think Tank on Good Governance has called on President Bola Tinubu, to set up an independent panel to investigate the controversies surrounding the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) records of the Minister of Interior, Mr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
The organisation led by Mr Gregory Oritsetimihin noted that the demand was not an attempt to indict the Minister but a principled appeal for accountability, due process, and public confidence in Nigeria’s institutions.
Addressing journalists on Monday at a press conference, the group also recommended the suspension of the Minister pending the outcome of the probe, describing such a step as an administrative safeguard rather than a punitive action.
The organisation said it was worrying that the nothing concrete had been done by the inquiry by a notable media organisation, Premium Times, on the matter after invoking the Freedom of Information Act.
According to the group, an official response issued by the NYSC on August 8, 2023, confirmed that the Minister was mobilised for national service in 2006, absconded from the programme, and later resurfaced in 2019, when he was re-mobilised and redeployed to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The statement further noted that his Certificate of National Service was eventually issued in February 2023, several years after the expected completion period.
“These facts were not drawn from speculation or social media narratives but were provided directly by the NYSC itself,” the group stated.
The think tank also clarified that universities, rather than the NYSC, are responsible for the mobilisation of graduates, stressing that issues relating to mobilisation, redeployment, and certification are matters of serious institutional responsibility and require objective and transparent review.
It described absconding from the NYSC scheme as a violation of existing laws and civic obligations, warning that unresolved questions surrounding the programme especially involving a serving public official could damage public trust and reinforce perceptions of selective accountability.
While urging calm, the organisation appealed to the President to demonstrate leadership by constituting an independent panel to review the matter and make its findings public.
According to the group, a transparent review would protect the integrity of the Presidency, uphold the credibility of the NYSC, and safeguard the reputation of the Minister.
“Accountability is not persecution, and inquiry is not condemnation,” the think tank said, adding that Nigeria’s democracy is strengthened when issues are addressed openly and in line with due process.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has sought an enhanced collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in areas including asset tracing, recovery, and management.
This was hinged on a recent visit by the chief executive of the corporation, Mr Thompson Oludare Sunday, to the chairman of the anti-graft agency, Mr Ola Olukoyede.
Speaking at the occasion, Mr Sunday stressed that the visit offered an opportunity for formal engagement with the EFCC for further collaboration between the two organizations.
“We aim to further strengthen our collaboration, deepen institutional synergy and explore additional avenues for mutual support in the pursuit of national financial system stability. The EFCC has been our partner and we want this to continue. We look forward to an expanded and more impactful partnership between our two esteemed institutions,” Mr Sunday said.
Further in his request, he stated that the NDIC sought to leverage on the EFCC’s technical expertise in asset tracing, recovery and management, particularly in cases involving debtors of banks in liquidation.
“Your experience has and will continue to greatly enhance our recovery efforts. Additionally, we have that strategic responsibility for prosecuting individuals whose actions contribute to the failure of banks. We therefore seek closer collaboration with the Commission in this critical area.”
On his part, Mr Olukoyede, remarked that both agencies of government have a longstanding record of collaboration, pledged to amplify the working relationship.
He emphasized that the NDIC and EFCC are like inseparable twins, working together for years. He reminded the NDIC’s boss that the EFCC had been supporting his agency in the area of investigation, while the NDIC had been supporting the EFCC in the area of training.
“So, there has been this mutually beneficial relationship between NDIC and EFCC and we never intend to stop. We’ll continue to take it to a higher level, and continue to strengthen it,” he said.
Mr Olukoyede reiterated that his policy directive was to stimulate the Nigerian economy with the anti-graft war, leverage productive entities and enhance the capacities of other government agencies through needful interventions.
“One of the things I promised when I resumed was to use the instrumentality of this work to stimulate the economy, not just to make noise all over the place; to strengthen and encourage the internal processes of entities that are doing well and design fraud risk assessment for them. That was what necessitated my establishing a new department called Fraud Risk Assessment and Control.
“We don’t have to always wait for money to be stolen. Let us work with you and stakeholders in the economy to fine tune our system and make sure that we clean our financial ecosystem. You’re a key player in that area, and we are always willing to collaborate with you,” he added.
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