By Augustine Aminu
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the sum of $2.59 billion for the development of Badagry Seaport under a Private-Public-Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo disclosed this while briefing correspondents on the outcome of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, on Wednesday in Abuja.
Sambo said it will be operated for a period of 45 years by the developers after which Nigerians will take over.
According to him, during the PPP lifespan, the project is expected to provide about 200,000 jobs while generating a revenue of $56 billion.
He added that the project is expected to make Nigeria a maritime hub in West Africa.
The minister explained: “The development of the Badagry Deep Seaport under the public private partnership arrangement, where the private sector will inject money for the development of the port and at the end of the concessionary period, the port reverts to the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
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“The project cost as contained and approved in council based on the final business case as approved by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) in line with extant laws stood at $2.59 billion.
“It has to be developed in four phases with milestones and the concessional period of 45 years. Reversion is, like I said, to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“This is to further the government’s goal of making Nigeria the maritime hub of the West and Central Africa sub-region.
This project will also generate a total revenue of over $53.6 billion over the concession period. It will create about one quarter million jobs and also attract foreign direct investments to the country and help in improving Nigeria’s economy in general and the wellbeing of Nigerians.”
Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed said that the Council approved on the National Monitoring and Evaluation policy for the country.
Mrs Ahmed explained that the policy defines a framework for the institutionalisation of the practice of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to promote good governance, learning and accountability for results that will contribute to improve socio-economic development of the country and enhance the wellbeing of citizens.
According to her, “the policy clarifies how M&E should be conducted in the country, specify the position, institutional and financial arrangements and the modalities for feedback, especially from citizens so that decision makers can make effective use of evidence by government and stakeholders to inform policy strategies and investment.
“This M&E policy was developed in close collaboration with the states, development partners, academia and several experts and associations of monitoring and evaluation in Nigeria,” she added.
