Something spectacular is about to happen now in Akwa Ibom as the Federal Executive council has just given the final approval for the take-off of Ibom Deep seaport. The atmosphere in the government House Uyo yesterday was jubilant with sumptuous smiles and giggles over wine. The popular hip-hop afro beat maestro 9ice would call this setup gongo Aso. With the FEC final approval, Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State has fulfilled a key component of his campaign promise to ensure the completion of the Ibom Deep Seaport project before the end of his administration.
Approval of the Full Business Case of the project by the Federal Executive Council on Wednesday signalled the completion of series of approvals for the prime A¹ project which has outlasted two previous administrations until this cheery news today.
Since his emergence, Governor Emmanuel has invested enormous energy, business contacts and resources toward acquiring requisite approvals for the commencement of the project because he believes it will greatly enhance the state’s economy and create vast employment opportunities for Nigerians.
Speaking to this reporter on implications of the latest and final approval for the Ibom Deep Seaport, the Commissioner for Economic Development and Deep Seaport, Mr Akan Okon disclosed that since “port construction is on the Exclusive List the Ibom Deep Seaport needed to be approved by the Federal Government. “It started with an OVC and approval of the procurement process, we then moved to the setting up of the Ministerial Project Development Steering Committee made up of representatives from the Federal Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) and Federal Ministry of Finance. “This committee approved the procurement process for the port which included the issuance of a request for qualification, request for proposal from prospective bidders. Eventually, those that submitted
