NIGERIA’S £746 million ports financing deal with the UK faces renewed scrutiny, particularly from former Minister of Education Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili, who urges President Bola Tinubu to terminate the agreement.
In a strongly worded statement, Ezekwesili criticizes its lack of transparency, highlighting Nigeria’s rising debt, with public debt escalating from ₦87 trillion to over ₦152 trillion.
She points out that terms of the agreement remain undisclosed and that it is an obligation rather than a grant, benefiting British exporters while increasing Nigeria’s financial burden.
“Nigeria desperately needs functional ports. The dysfunction of Apapa and Tin-can Ports has cost the country immeasurably. But legitimate aspirations cannot be condoned as an excuse for illegitimate processes. A port built on undisclosed debt and non-tendered contracts entrenches the same rotten governance structure that has armed Nigeria for decades,” she said.
Her concerns include currency risk, questionable procurement processes allegedly favouring a contractor linked to the President, and a failure to pursue private funding alternatives demonstrated by the successful Lekki Deep Sea Port model.
Ezekwesili calls for immediate action: termination of the deal and transparency through Freedom of Information requests, emphasizing that Nigeria must avoid entrenching poor governance through opaque contracts.
She noted that “this deal will worsen Nigeria’s fiscal and economic future”.