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FG begins procurement process for Ibom Port

By on January 24, 2015

The federal government has started the procurement process for the Ibom deep seaport, Akwa Ibom State.

Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Audu Umar dropped the hint at the official submission of the outline business case (OBC) for the project by the project transaction advisors, Messrs Felak Concept Limited and Maritime Transport Business Solutions (Felak/MTBS) in Abuja.

The submission of the OBC followed  inauguration of  the Ministerial Project Development and Steering Committee in 2012.

The committee was inaugurated by the Minister of Transport with the mandate to deliver a deep sea port in Akwa Ibom by the end of 2015.

Umar said with the submission of the report, the ministry would take immediate steps to obtain necessary approvals to commence the procurement process for the project.

He said the advertisement would be placed, inviting investors from within and outside the country to express their interest.

“After that the necessary evaluation will be carried out with the transaction advisers. We have to work assiduously with the OBC document to ensure that the procurement processes commence as soon as possible,” he said.

The minister said the presentation of the OBC document was a demonstration of the political will and determination of the Federal Government and Akwa Ibom Government to ensure the success of the project.

“The ministry, the transaction advisers and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)have worked assiduously to attain what we have achieved today. It took the committee and the transaction advisers who are the consultants two years to carry out this exercise and the time frame is justifiable, given the volume of report they have submitted,’’ he added.

Umar also revealed that the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) have to evaluate the report.

“The project was targeted to be completed by the end of 2015 but given the enormity of requirements involved, it was obviously impossible to start its procurement process much earlier. The time spent on the production of this document is sufficiently justified,” he said.

The Secretary of the Committee, Mallam Dikko Bala, expressed appreciation to the federal government, Akwa Ibom government and other stakeholders for their support.

He stated that he looked forward to the procurement phase of the multibillion naira project.

THISDAY had reported that the project was initially sited at Mbo Local Government Area but further analysis made the consultants to recommend Ibeno Local Government Area.

 

[ThisDay]