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From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of using the proposed $4.6 billion Ibom Deep Sea Port in Akwa Ibom State as a recurring campaign promise, questioning why the Federal Government continues to announce commitments to a project approved under former President Muhammadu Buhari in December 2020 without construction commencing.
The opposition party said President Bola Tinubu’s renewed promise during his visit to Akwa Ibom State on Friday, November 6, amounted to another attempt to win political support ahead of the 2027 general election, despite an earlier approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and a similar pledge by the President during his 2023 election campaign.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, the NDC challenged the APC to explain why the project had remained on the drawing board nearly six years after the Buhari administration approved the implementation of its first phase.
“How many times will the APC approve the Ibom Deep Sea Port?” the party asked.
According to the NDC, the Federal Executive Council, at its meeting on December 16, 2020, approved the implementation of the first phase of the $4.6 billion project, with Bollore/Power China named as the preferred bidder.
The party said the approval was expected to pave the way for construction of the port, which has long been projected as a major maritime infrastructure investment capable of expanding Nigeria’s cargo-handling capacity and stimulating economic activities in Akwa Ibom State and the wider South-South region.
It recalled that Tinubu, while campaigning for the presidency at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, on January 30, 2023, also promised to construct the port as part of his administration’s development agenda.
“We will do mechanised farming. We will export food from Akwa Ibom. We will build your seaport,” the party quoted Tinubu as telling supporters at the rally.
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The NDC expressed disappointment that the President had returned to the state with what it described as essentially the same promise, rather than announcing tangible progress on the project.
It accused the ruling party of substituting repeated assurances for implementation, arguing that the failure to commence construction had raised questions about the sincerity of successive APC administrations.
The party 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 commitment offered little assurance that the project would finally take off.
“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.
Drawing a parallel with the country’s electricity challenges, the NDC said Nigerians had grown weary of repeated government assurances on critical infrastructure projects without corresponding improvements in their living conditions.
“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 party urged Nigerians to assess the APC’s performance against its previous commitments rather than fresh campaign promises as the country approached the 2027 elections.
“Nigerians must shine their eyes and dump the APC into the abyss of socio-political irrelevance and make a new Nigeria possible,” the statement concluded.
