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From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has pegged its 2026 revenue target at N1.489 trillion, with plans to modernise the aging Apapa and Tin Can Island ports emerging as the central strategy to boost earnings and enhance global competitiveness.
Managing Director of the NPA, Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, disclosed this yesterday during the agency’s 2026 budget defence before the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, where he outlined the authority’s financial projections and infrastructure priorities.
Dantsoho said the N1.489 trillion target represents an increase of N21 billion over the N1.468 trillion projected for 2025, which the agency not only met but exceeded, recording an actual revenue of N1.97 trillion.
A breakdown of the 2026 proposal shows that N945 billion is allocated for capital projects, N447.5 billion for recurrent expenditure and N90.6 billion earmarked for remittance into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
He explained that the budget was anchored on the theme, “consolidation, renewed resilience and shared prosperity,” with the modernisation of Apapa and Tin Can Island ports positioned as flagship projects to drive growth.
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According to him, both ports have become outdated and are no longer competitive in the global maritime industry. “Apapa and Tin Can Island ports are very old and too small for the level of competition required in today’s ports business.
“Apapa Port is about 100 years old, while Tin Can is over 50 years old, with inadequate capacity in terms of size and vessel handling for modern operations.
“Groundbreaking for their modernisation will commence within the next two to three weeks,” he added.
On revenue management, Dantsoho reiterated that the NPA operates fully under the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy, noting that all revenues generated by the authority are remitted directly to the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“We do not retain any funds. The Central Bank is the signatory and we must apply for funds whenever needed,” he explained.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Wasiu Eshinlokun, assured the NPA of the committee’s support, stressing that its oversight role is collaborative rather than adversarial. “Our goal is to work with you to strengthen institutional capacity, eliminate inefficiencies and ensure that every Naira appropriated serves the public interest,” he said.
