The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has said that Tin-Can Island and the Lagos Port Complex, Apapa, need urgent rehabilitation that may cost around $800 million as the country’s major ports are on the verge of collapse.
The NPA Managing Director, Mohammed Bello-Koko, who spoke in an interview on television said that the Port of Tin-Can is collapsing, and if nothing is done in the coming years, there will be many problems related to doing business there.
He said also, Escravos, Calabar, and Onne Ports are in need of significant rehabilitation alongside Tin Can to the tune of $800 million.
He said that Tin Can Port, it is not an imminent collapse, but in the next few years if nothing is done, there will be problems.
“We have been managing Tin Can and doing palliatives and other jobs for some time now, but it is time we rehabilitate it completely. We also need to rehab some parts of Apapa,” he added.
Bello-Koko added that the Tin Can rehabilitation needs to also be done alongside ports in the Niger Delta region from Escravos to Calabar, adding that total costs could rise to $800 million.
“We need to reconstruct the ‘breakwaters’ in Escarvos. It has collapsed for over ten years, and there is a collapsed jetty in Calabar, Warri, Rivers, and Onne. There is no port that does not need reconstruction of some of its facilities. Our estimates are between $560 and $800 million.
“The gap is because if we decide to leave Apapa till much later, we do not need up to $800 million, but if you need to reconstruct Tin Can, we need that amount,” he said.
He added that the NPA has increased its revenue from N250 billion and N300 billion to N361 billion, revealing that its contribution to the federal government’s CRF has increased to N91 billion.
“We believe this year we should do far better than what we currently did by surpassing the amount raked in and remitted into the Federal Government CRF,” he added.
