Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has restated his administration’s commitment towards actualising the deep seaport project at Agge in Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state.
Governor Diri gave the assurance on Monday when he received the federal government’s Joint Project Steering Committee and Project Delivery Team on the Agge Deep Seaport in Government House, Yenagoa.
The delegation led by the Senior Technical Adviser to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Prof. Busayo Fakinlede, presented the committee’s report and recommendations for the smooth takeoff of the project to the governor.
The Bayelsa helmsman said the project was conceptualised by his predecessor’s administration and that his government reviewed it and commenced negotiations on partnership with the immediate past administration at the federal level.
He, however, stated that the negotiations gained traction when the President Bola Tinubu administration created the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy and he had to visit the Minister in Abuja.
Diri commended President Tinubu for recognising the importance of the marine economy and the commitment of the committee and the Nigeria Ports Authority to the project.
His words: “When we came in, one of the projects of the immediate past administration that we reviewed and saw we must run with was the Agge Deep Seaport.
“Under the immediate past federal government, we started the process. Unfortunately, we did not go far with that government.
“What interested us most was that the current president had the foresight in establishing for the first time the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy. He also recognised the importance of the neglected marine sector of this country.
“For Bayelsa being a marine state, we saw that a Daniel had come to judgment and we took advantage of this to establish a similar ministry in our state.
“Our administration is irrevocably committed to this project and working with the federal government, we will ensure it becomes a reality.”
Leader of the Joint Project Steering Committee and Project Delivery Team, Prof. Busayo Fakinlede, while presenting the committee’s report, recommended the appointment of a Transaction Adviser with the requisite integrity and understanding of port systems as well as the ability to bring all the consortia, financial, technical and social import assessment to the table.
The Technical Adviser to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy stressed that the Transaction Adviser would also bring all the expertise together on behalf of the state and in partnership with the federal government on what was expected from it.
Fakindele expressed delight that the state had already paved the way to achieve the intermodal network with construction of the Sagbama-Ekeremor road for the evacuation of goods.
Also, the General Manager, Public-Private Partnership, Nigerian Ports Authority, Mr. Nura Abdulkadir, said he felt fulfilled as he was part of the project since 2015 when former Governor Seriake Dickson initiated it and engaged the NPA for collaboration.
Mr. Abdulkadir said for it to succeed, the project must capitalise on its comparative advantage, which is importation of oil and gas products.