From Uche Usim, Abuja
Contrary to viral media reports stating that the Lekki deep seaport was 96 per cent completed, the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) on Wednesday clarified that the project has attained 81.14 per cent completion status.
ICRC, while giving a breakdown of the completion status in a statement, said that: ‘Dredging and reclamation is at 90.93%, quay walls at 87.3%, the breakwater at 82.74% and landside infrastructure at 70%, bringing to a total of 81.14%.
‘As regulators of all concession agreements entered into by the Federal Government of Nigeria, ICRC deems it imperative to clarify this information and present the correct figure.
‘The Concessionaire, Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Ltd, is working round the clock to ensure the project is completed on schedule – The project is expected to be completed in September 2022 and become operational in December 2022,’ the statement read in parts.
ICRC further assured that it will continue to carry out its regulatory functions to ensure that this project, like all other government concessions, will yield the desired value for money, profitability, efficiency, economic growth, job creation and other gains for which the contract was entered into.
The Lekki deep seaport project is a 45 years concession by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) awarded on a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.
Upon completion, Lekki Port will have a total of three container berths, one dry bulk berth and three liquid berths.