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From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of repeatedly approving the proposed Ibom Deep Sea Port project in Akwa Ibom State as a campaign gimmick to deceive Nigerians, questioning how many times the same project would be approved without construction commencing.
It said the repeated promises, including a fresh commitment by President Bola Tinubu during his visit to Akwa Ibom State on Friday, November 6, amounted to a deliberate attempt to mislead the people, noting that the project had received Federal Government approval since December 2020.
In a statement issued on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, the NDC recalled that the Federal Executive Council under former President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the implementation of the first phase of the $4.6 billion Ibom Deep Sea Port project at its meeting on December 16, 2020.
The approval, according to the party, named Bollore/Power China as the preferred bidder and was expected to pave the way for construction to commence.
It also accused the APC of making the project a recurring campaign promise, recalling that Tinubu had also pledged to build the port during the party’s presidential campaign rally at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, on January 30, 2023.
The party quoted Tinubu as telling supporters, “We will do mechanised farming. We will export food from Akwa Ibom. We will build your seaport.”
However, the NDC said more than three years after the promise, the President had returned to make the same commitment, describing it as another round of unfulfilled campaign promises.
“How many times will the APC approve the Ibom Deep Sea Port?” the party asked.
It described the development as “a brazen display of ignorance of statecraft and the elevation of grand deceit as a campaign strategy”, insisting that the latest promise was unlikely to translate into the actual execution of the project.
“Obviously, this is another round of cheap promises that will not be kept or honoured. Just as before, so it will be now, empty promises. All talk and no action,” the statement said.
Furthermore, the party compared the situation with the continued failure to provide uninterrupted electricity across the country, saying Nigerians and Akwa Ibom residents had been left waiting for projects repeatedly promised by the APC.
“As Nigerians are still waiting for the APC and President Tinubu to give us uninterrupted electricity supply, so Akwa Ibomites are waiting endlessly for the promised deep sea port that has become a campaign tool of deceit,” it added.
The NDC urged Nigerians to reject the APC in the 2027 general election, saying the country needed a change of political leadership.
“Nigerians must shine their eyes and dump the APC into the abyss of socio-political irrelevance and make a new Nigeria possible,” the party said.
