Amaechi: Buhari Delighted With Pace of Work at Lekki Port

Eromosele Abiodun

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari is delighted at the pace of the construction work on the Lekki Deep Sea Port.

Amaechi stated this while responding to questions from the media shortly after the visit of the President to the port located at the Lagos Free Zone, Ibeju Lekki in Lagos.

The President was received at the port site by top management of the promoters of the project – Lekki Port LFZ Enterprises Limited (LPLEL) led by the Chairman of the board, Mr. Biodun Dabiri; Director, Alhaji Olabode Oyedele; the Managing Director, Du Ruogang; Managing Director – Africa, Tolaram, Mr. Haresh Aswani and the former Chairman of the company and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Chief Joseph Sanusi among others.

During the tour, President Muhammadu Buhari commended the efforts of the Minister towards making the Lekki Deep Sea Port a reality and directed him to consult and bring up a memorandum to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to link the facility with the railway network.

Speaking on the purpose of the President’s visit to the project, the Minister stated that the visit affirms the commitment and support of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to ensure timely delivery of the port.

Amaechi explained further that he is confident that the commencement of operation of Lekki Port would strengthen Nigeria’s maritime sector to meet the ever-growing demands for goods transported by sea and will also position the maritime hub for the West African sub-region and even up to the Central African Republic.

“I can confirm that President Muhammadu Buhari is delighted with the progress of work done on the project, I am also happy, and I am sure everyone is happy that the project is going on as scheduled, and we are looking forward to the official commissioning and commencement of operations,” said Amaechi.

Also speaking during the visit, the Chief Executive Officer, Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Limited, Mr. Du Ruogang, expressed the profound appreciation of the company to the President for the visit and the immense support the project has received since its inception, stating that the team remains committed to delivering the project as scheduled.

Ruogang further assured that the company is working round the clock to complete the construction as scheduled by September to ensure that commercial operations commence by the fourth quarter of 2022.

On his part, the Manging Director of Lekki Freeport Terminal, the terminal oprator for the Port, Mr Denrick Moos, assured that the port operation would be a worldclass and efficient one leveraging technology in the automation of its processes.