No Going Back On Agge Seaport – Diri

Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has restated his administration’s commitment to realising the deep seaport project at Agge in the Ekeremor local government area of the state.

On Monday, Governor Diri gave the assurance 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 Prof Busayo Fakinlede, the Senior Technical Adviser to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, presented the committee’s report and recommendations for the project’s smooth start to the governor.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, quoted Diri as saying that his predecessor’s administration conceptualised the project, that his government reviewed it, and that it commenced negotiations on partnership with the immediate past administration at the federal level.

However, he stated that the negotiations gained traction when President Bola Tinubu’s 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 committee’s and the Nigeria Ports Authority’s commitment 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 to establish the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy for the first time. He also recognised the importance of this country’s neglected marine sector.

“For Bayelsa being a marine state, we saw that 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 we will ensure it becomes a reality by working with the federal government.”

Prof. Busayo Fakinlede, leader of the Joint Project Steering Committee and Project Delivery Team, presented the committee’s report and 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 assessments 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 regarding what was expected.

Fakindele expressed delight that the state had already paved the way to achieve the intermodal network by constructing the Sagbama-Ekeremor road to evacuate goods.

Also, the General Manager of the Public-Private Partnership, Nigerian Ports Authority, Mr Nura Abdulkadir, said he felt fulfilled as he has been part of the project since 2015 when former Governor Seriake Dickson initiated it and engaged the NPA for collaboration.

Mr Abdulkadir said that for the project to succeed, it must capitalise on its comparative advantage: importing oil and gas products.