IBOM DEEP SEAPORT: MR. PRESIDENT, AKWA IBOM DESERVES AN ANSWER

Your Excellency,

I write this letter not as an enemy of your administration, but as a Nigerian citizen who is deeply concerned about what increasingly appears to be an unacceptable imbalance in the Federal Government’s approach to maritime infrastructure development.

I ask you, Mr. President, to answer one straightforward question:

Why is the Federal Government prepared to facilitate hundreds of millions of pounds for the rehabilitation of ports in Lagos, and now contemplate more than US$7 billion in investment around a new seaport in Ogun State, while the long-approved Ibom Deep Seaport in Akwa Ibom State continues to wait?

On 19 March 2026, your administration witnessed the signing of a £746 million financing arrangement supported by UK Export Finance for the rehabilitation of the Lagos Port Complex and Tin Can Island Port Complex.

The UK Government confirms that the facility is intended to renovate 20 berths at those existing Lagos ports.

What makes this particularly painful to the people of Akwa Ibom is that you did not merely travel to Britain and sign this arrangement.

You were accompanied by the distinguished Senate President of Nigeria, Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, an illustrious son of Akwa Ibom State.

The official State House announcement confirms his presence in your entourage.

To many Akwa Ibom people, the symbolism was deeply troubling:

An Akwa Ibom son stood beside the President of Nigeria while Nigeria secured £746 million for Lagos port infrastructure, while the long-awaited Ibom Deep Seaport remains unrealised.

Mr. President, you must understand how this is perceived in Akwa Ibom.

It is not merely about money.

It is about fairness, federal balance, economic inclusion and respect for the contribution of Akwa Ibom to Nigeria’s economy.

THE IBOM DEEP SEAPORT IS NOT A NEW IDEA

The Ibom Deep Seaport has been in the Federal Government’s PPP framework for many years.

The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission records that the project received Federal Government support and that the procurement process was advanced to the stage of identifying a preferred bidder.

ICRC documentation also records the project as a joint Federal Government/Akwa Ibom State/private-sector initiative.

The project’s total construction cost has been documented at approximately US$4.6 billion, with an earlier Federal approval for the first phase of approximately US$2.016 billion.

This is therefore not a dream that Akwa Ibom has suddenly invented.

It is an established national infrastructure project.

It was conceived to add capacity to Nigeria’s port system, reduce pressure on Lagos and provide an eastern gateway for Nigerian and regional trade.

ICRC has previously described the project in precisely those terms.

NOW COMPARE THIS WITH OGUN

On 24 September 2026, your administration announced in Paris agreements involving the Ogun State Government and DP World concerning the proposed Gateway Deep Seaport and Blue Marine Special Economic Zone.

The State House says the agreements represent more than US$7 billion in initial investment, and that the proposed Ogun port would have a four-kilometre berth and an 18-metre draft.

I welcome investment anywhere in Nigeria.

Let me repeat that:

I welcome investment in Lagos. I welcome investment in Ogun. I welcome investment in every Nigerian state.

But the question that must be answered is this:

Why can Nigeria mobilise this scale of attention, investment and presidential support for Ogun, while a longstanding deep-sea port project in Akwa Ibom remains in limbo?

If US$7 billion can be mobilised around a new Ogun maritime development, why cannot US$4.6 billion—or an appropriate financing structure for the Ibom Deep Seaport—be mobilised for Akwa Ibom?

MY DEMAND, MR. PRESIDENT

I therefore respectfully but firmly demand that your administration take concrete steps to secure the US$4.6 billion required for the Ibom Deep Seaport, rather than allowing the project to remain another item in Nigeria’s long list of abandoned or perpetually delayed infrastructure projects.

I specifically call for:

1. A Presidential directive to the relevant ministries and agencies to reactivate the Ibom Deep Seaport project immediately.

2. A clear financing roadmap for the US$4.6 billion project.

3. The completion of all outstanding regulatory, financial and PPP requirements.

4. A definite project implementation timetable, publicly communicated to Nigerians.

5. A transparent explanation of the Federal Government’s maritime infrastructure priorities across Lagos, Ogun and Akwa Ibom.

6. A commitment that Akwa Ibom’s strategic position as an oil-producing and maritime state will be properly reflected in national infrastructure planning.

MR. PRESIDENT, AKWA IBOM IS NOT ASKING FOR FAVOUR

The people of Akwa Ibom are not asking you to give them an advantage over Lagos or Ogun.

We are asking for fair treatment within the Nigerian federation.

If Lagos deserves port rehabilitation, let Lagos have it.

If Ogun deserves a new deep-sea port, let Ogun have it.

But Akwa Ibom also deserves the opportunity to develop its own deep-sea port, particularly when the project has existed within the Federal PPP framework for years and has been designed as part of a wider industrialisation strategy.

The Ibom Deep Seaport was conceived as more than a harbour.

It was designed to support the Ibom Industrial City, logistics, manufacturing, exports, employment and wider regional economic development.

ICRC documentation records a proposed port area of approximately 2,565 hectares within the larger industrial-city development.

THE SYMBOLISM OF LONDON

Mr. President, I must return to the £746 million Lagos financing because of its symbolism.

You travelled to Britain.

You witnessed the signing of a major financing arrangement for Lagos ports.

An eminent Akwa Ibom son, the President of the Nigerian Senate, was part of your official entourage.

And yet the people of Akwa Ibom are still waiting for meaningful Federal action on the Ibom Deep Seaport.

You should understand why many people in Akwa Ibom find that deeply painful.

It creates the impression that some parts of Nigeria are receiving presidential urgency while others are being asked to wait indefinitely.

Whether or not that impression reflects your intention, it is an impression that your administration has a responsibility to address.

MR. PRESIDENT, THIS IS THE MOMENT TO CORRECT THAT IMPRESSION

I therefore appeal to you to demonstrate, through action rather than speeches, that Nigeria’s maritime development is a national project—not a Lagos-centred or regionally concentrated project.

Let the Federal Government establish a transparent national maritime investment programme under which Lagos, Ogun, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and other qualifying maritime locations can develop according to their economic potential.

And let the Ibom Deep Seaport finally move from planning to implementation.

Mr. President, the people of Akwa Ibom are watching.

They are asking a simple question:

If billions of dollars can be found for other maritime projects, why has the Ibom Deep Seaport continued to wait?

I respectfully request that you provide the people of Akwa Ibom with a clear answer—and, more importantly, a clear action plan.

US$4.6 billion for Ibom Deep Seaport is not an unreasonable demand when Nigeria is contemplating more than US$7 billion for the Ogun maritime and special economic zone development.

Give Akwa Ibom the same opportunity.

Give Nigeria’s eastern maritime gateway the chance to work.

Give the people of Akwa Ibom a reason to believe that the Federal Republic of Nigeria belongs equally to all of us.

Yours faithfully,

Elder Chris Udoh BSc(Ife), MSc(UK), MCIPS(UK), FCA CleanRivers Consultants Limited Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.

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