The Oyo State Government said it has decided to hold 15 percent equity in the proposed Ibadan Inland Dry Port (IDP) project, which is to be sited at Olorisha- Oko in Ibadan Oyo State.
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, who disclosed this at the weekend when Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation led a delegation from the Ministry and the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) to Government House, also promised to reinforce the synergy between the state and Federal Governments on the project.
“Oyo State is pushing to have 15 percent equity in the dry port and industrial park projects. We have completely reconstructed the Moniya to Iseyin Road at the cost of N10 billion. The link road between the Port and Moniya already exists, but we believe that the whole area between the port and the rail terminal should be a new business district,” he said.
The Governor further said that allowing Oyo State to have equity in the port project would be best for the project because it would enable the development of solid infrastructure that would cater for the challenges coming from Apapa.
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On his part, Amaechi said the Federal Government is grateful that Oyo State has decided to invest in the Port project.
“We should be grateful that the Oyo State Government is ready to invest because the Federal Government has instructed us that there must be Nigerian investors in the project, we don’t want to give it all to the Chinese investors alone. At the end of the day, Nigerians should be able to make profits out of it,” the minister said.
While stating that the Federal Government would discuss with the Chinese and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) about the Oyo State Government plans to invest in project, he called on more private investors to get involved in the port project.
Amaechi further disclosed that President Buhari would be commissioning the Moniya Terminal of the Lagos-ibadan rail line by June 2021, and cargoes going to Port Harcourt, Kano may likely end up in Ibadan to boost other economic activities in the State.
On issues delaying the take-off of the Dry Port project, Amaechi attributed the delay to encumbrances from the State Government.
According to the minister, the present State Government was before the visit, denying the concessionaire access into the 90 hectares of land that was formerly approved for the port project and had only granted them access to 40 hectares of land.
