The Akwa Ibom State Government disclosed that the recently approved Ibom Deep Sea Port would reduce the burden on Lagos ports and also reduce gridlock challenges in Apapa.

The Governor disclosed this on Friday in a statement released by the FG, he also praised the Navy for protecting commercial maritime assets in the state, to ensure the safety of the seaport.

What the Governor said

“Ibom Deep Sea Port will help complement other ports and enhance our maritime industry by easing the burdens experienced by importers and exporters… in Lagos, and other logistics challenges such as the perennial gridlock in Apapa… The vision of the Ibom Deep Seaport is to add to the port capacity of the Nigerian Ports and overall Maritime development.

The opening of more ports will provide employment to thousands of our youths in such areas as logistics and general maritime services,” the statement read.

The Governor added that that the FG NPA, Independent Concessions Regulatory Agencies and the Ministry of Finance have offered necessary support so far in funding the first phase of the project and thanked the Nigerian Navy for securing maritime assets to prevent security attacks at the seaport.

What you should know

Nairametrics reported in December 2020 that the Akwa Ibom State Government disclosed that the first tranche of the $4.6 billion for the Ibom Deep Seaport (IDSP) project was approved by the Federal Government. The first phase would cost $2.016 billion, and construction up to the completion of the port will create 300,000 jobs in Akwa Ibom.