The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has made a shocking revelation that the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has an office in London.
The former Anambra State governor said NPA is the only port in the world that has an office outside its territory of operation. He made the revelation during The People’s Town Hall on Channels TV on Sunday, an interactive session with members of the public that he had in the company of his vice presidential candidate Datti Ahmed.
Obi promised to dismantle the current Nigerian port system if elected president: “Ports Authority is what I’ve followed. Are you aware that the Nigerian Ports Authority is the only Port Authority in the world that has an office outside its country of operation?
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“They have an office in London, they even have a guest house in London. Can you believe it? For running a Port in Nigeria?!
“We are going to dismantle the confusion in Ports Administration and get this country to work,” he said.
Nigeria has been running a Lagos-based centralized port system for years, keeping other ports scattered across the country dormant – a situation experts say contributes to port congestion and high cost of clearing.
In 2020, the Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, said Nigeria runs the most expensive port in the West African sub-region, a situation she attributed to duplicity of functions by operators in the ports.
Obi, who is seen as a maverick in the Nigerian political system, said he would copy other countries that made massive progress running their ports. He cited China, which moved from its lackluster port operation to occupy the most prominent positions today.
He noted that 20 years ago the biggest port in terms of operations was Singapore, which currently holds the 4th or 5th position because it has been replaced by three ports in China.
“It’s not rocket science, the port is not difficult, Nigeria has so much port potential from Ibom to Port Harcourt terminal started by Shagari and still not fully operational,
“I will change it by bringing the private sector to build ports and manage it in collaboration with the government,” Obi said.
The two-term former governor has recorded massive organic support buoyed by Nigerian youths since he declared his intention to run for the office of the president. However, the implementation of his promise to dismantle the Nigerian port system depends solely on him winning the presidential election on February 25.