Steve Agbota
Federal Government through the Nigerian Shippers Council has said that the negotiations with China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC), the preferred bidder for the construction of the Ibadan Inland Dry Port, is nearing completion.
The dry port project, which has been estimated at N43.240 billion ($94 million) is expected to boost employment in Oyo State and other cities in the environs.
The Head of Public Relations of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mrs Rakiya Zubairu, said this in a statement during the weekend in Lagos, explaining that the CRCC emerged the preferred bidder for the facility, whose development is aimed at addressing Lagos ports congestion and the gridlocks in Apapa ports.
According to her, Nigerian Shippers’ Council is the guarantor to the concession, an 80,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) capacity dry port to be built on the basis of Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
She hinted that the facility would be designated as port of destination where cargo would be consolidated for import and export, especially in the Southwestern part of the country.
She added: “Among other uses, the dry port will provide a competitive cargo sorting centre, bulk breaking as well as cargo-tracking and truck management services. The Lagos-Kano standard gauge railway currently under construction is aligned to the proposed dry port, making it easy to convey cargo from the seaports in Lagos and to all destinations along the route.
She noted that the negotiations emphasised the utilisation of local content at each stage of development and operation of the facility, saying an updated full business case compliance report will be produced at the end of the ongoing negotiations.
A draft agreement will be presented to the Federal Ministry of Justice and sent to the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) for vetting, after which the Minister of Transportation will present the agreement to the Federal Executive Council.
However, the Executive/CEO of Shippers’ Council, Hassan Bello, expressed satisfaction with the proceedings. He disclosed that all parties expressed firm commitment to the actualisation of the project.