Lekki Deep Sea Port 96% complete, ready by mid-year — ICRC

 

.Says FG is committed to bridging infrastructure gap

 

The Lekki Deep Sea Port has reached 96 per cent completion, Mr Micheal Ohiani, the Acting Director-General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), says.

 

He made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.

 

According to Ohiani, his team carried out a regulatory visit to the project site in the last quarter of 2021 and was satisfied with the progress of work done so far.

 

Ohiani said that the Nigeria Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP), had projected that within the next 30 years, the nation would require 3.1 trillion dollars to build infrastructure which translates to 100 billion dollars annually.

 

“The Federal Government cannot do this alone, so you have to leverage on private sector investment.

 

“Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects are therefore, designed to bridge this infrastructure gap, including the Lekki deep seaport, which will become operational in the second quarter of this year.

 

“We also have the Onitsha River port that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved about a fortnight ago.

 

“We have the Lokoja-Baru port. We also have the Kano-Kaduna standard guage line currently under construction.

 

NAN reports that the Lekki Deep Sea Port was conceptualised on the basis of a significant gap in projected demand and capacity.

 

The strategic location, optimised layout and modern facilities provide Lekki Port a distinct competitive edge over any other port facility in the West African region.

 

Upon completion, it will feature three operational sub-concessions for the container terminal, liquid terminal and dry bulk terminal.

 

The container terminal is expected to have a 1,200 meter long quay, three container berths and a storage yard with more than 15,000 ground slots.

 

ICRC was established to regulate PPP endeavours of the Federal Government aimed at addressing Nigeria’s physical infrastructure deficit which hampers economic development

 

In another development, The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) says the Federal Government is poised in its commitment to bridging the infrastructure gap in Nigeria.

 

Acting Director-General of the commission, Mr Michael Ohiani said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.

 

The ICRC boss hinted that plans were at advanced stage to begin the process of procuring a concessionaire for the Lagos/Ibadan rail and the Itakpe/Warri rail.

 

Ohiani said that the concessionaire would be responsible for managing security as well as ticketing with regards to the service.

 

He said that the infrastructure gap was too big for the government alone to handle as it required more than three billion dollars over 30 years, hence the need to have adopted the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model.

 

Citing the Nigeria integrated Infrastructure Master Plan, he said that the required fund translated to an investment of 100 billion dollars annually on infrastructure.

 

“PPP projects are therefore, designed to bridge these infrastructure gaps,” he said.

 

Itemising some of the new PPP projects, Ohiani said: “we have 12 road corridors under the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI) that is meant to address the infrastructure gap.

 

“The procurement of the concessionaire has started, we have issued 13 Outline Business Case Certificates for the 12 road corridors.

 

“You also notice that the Lagos-Ibadan rail is working, so also the Itakpe-Warri, in fact, we are about getting a concessionaire for the management of the ticketing and the security for Lagos-Ibadan as well as Itakpe, so we have all these things to bridge the infrastructure gap.”

 

“We also have the Onitsha River Port that the Federal Executive Council approved a fortnight ago, we also have the Lokoja/Baru port.

 

“We have the Kano/Kaduna Standard Gauge line currently under construction.

 

“As we speak, we are working with the Ministry of water resources to add 40 megawatts of power to the power stock across the country,” he said.

 

He said that the Gurrara 30 megawatts was already ongoing, a testament to the fact that the Federal Government was working toward addressing the infrastructure gap in the country.

 

On other infrastructural development, he said that the process for the proposed Jabi Lake Tourism and Recreation Development project that would generate N123 billion over a 30-year period had been ramped up.

 

He said that the project which should have commenced in 2021, was delayed by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

 

He, however, assured that the tourism driven project which features entertainment, travel, accommodation, cultural activities, eating and gaming, boat cruise and others would soon commence.

 

NAN reports that the project would also generate net value of N1.5 billion, internal rate of return of 17.75 per cent and payback period of 17 years.

 

The said project which is expected to cost 21 million dollars would have transformational invaluable multiplier economic effects on the travel and hospitality sector.

 

ICRC was established to regulate PPP endeavours of the Federal Government aimed at addressing Nigeria’s physical infrastructure deficit which hampers economic development.