The Vice Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, has claimed that he built the Lekki Deep Seaport from scratch to completion, accusing President Bola Tinubu and Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of taking undue credit for the project.
Amaechi made the claim on Thursday during an ADC stakeholders’ meeting in Edo State, while responding to a question on whether an ADC administration would develop the Gelegele Seaport in Edo State to the standard of the Lekki facility.
The former Minister of Transportation stated that although the concept of the Lekki Deep Seaport originated under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, its construction was approved and completed under former President Muhammadu Buhari, under his supervision as minister.
“I built Lekki Deep Seaport from scratch to finish. I finished it completely, but I had resigned to contest for the presidency. That’s why Sanwo-Olu got Buhari to come and commission it,” Amaechi said.
He alleged that Governor Sanwo-Olu, President Tinubu, and others subsequently claimed credit for the project despite not monitoring its construction.
“And when they were commissioning it, Sanwo-Olu and others, including Tinubu, were claiming that they built it. None of them visited the site from scratch,” he said.
“Buhari approved the construction of that seaport, but it was essentially Obasanjo’s idea, even though it was built under Buhari,” he added.
The former Rivers State governor noted that the Buhari administration had also approved deep seaport projects in Bonny (Rivers State), Ibom (Akwa Ibom State), and Warri (Delta State), though funding constraints delayed their execution.
He explained that the proposed Bonny Deep Seaport was designed with a depth of 18 metres, while the Ibom site possessed a natural depth of between 17 and 18 metres. The Warri seaport project, he added, was approved in part to facilitate the transport of iron ore from northern Nigeria to the Niger Delta region.
Amaechi assured stakeholders that an ADC administration would prioritize and revive these stalled maritime infrastructure projects, maintaining that initial costs would be manageable.
“We didn’t quite raise all the money to construct them. Will an ADC government do anything? Yes, we will ensure that all those seaports are constructed. They are not too expensive,” he said.
He estimated that an initial investment of $400 million to $500 million would be sufficient to commence work on the proposed ports, with further expansions carried out incrementally.
Amaechi also promised that the development of the Gelegele Seaport in Edo State would be given top priority.
“When an ADC government wins, I, as Vice President, will put it on the table for the President to approve,” Amaechi said.
