FEC okays $4.7b for Ondo, Snake Island, Burutu ports development
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday gave approval for port development projects worth $4,713,841,477 in Ondo, Lagos and Delta states. The approval was ratified by the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The meeting, which lasted several hours, gave the nod for the development of Ondo Multi-Purpose Port, Ilaje, Snake Island in Lagos and Burutu in Delta State. The Minister of State for Transportation, Prince Ademola Adegoroye, who briefed State House correspondents after the meeting, said the projects are to be executed through public private partnership arrangement at no cost to the federal government. He said the Ondo port will cost the private developers the sum of $1,480,465,253 and would be concessioned for a period of 50 years, with the accruals to the concessionaire and the federal government expected to be $50 billion and $2.6billion, respectively. According to him, the Burutu port will cost $1,285,005,818; concessioned for 40 years, with the concessionaire and the federal government expected to reap $125billion, $9 billion, respectively. He explained that the Snake Island Port will gulp $974,185,203 and concessioned for 45 years with the concessionaire and the federal government receiving $18billion and $5.23billion respectively, in accruals within the period. The Council also approved the construction of five new federal secretariats in five states of the federation that do not currently have such facilities. Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed spoke on behalf of the Minister, saying the benefiting states are: Abia Ebonyi, Kebbi, Kogi and Taraba. According to him, construction of these new Secretariats will be facilitated by the incoming admin. Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, disclosed that the council at the closed-door meeting also approved a change of name for the Federal Ministry of Aviation, to Ministry of Aviation & Aerospace of Nigeria. He said the development is in keeping with current global realities in the aviation sector. The Minister further announced the FEC's approval of a draft National Civil Aviation Policy, which was last reviewed in 2013.