The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has promised to seek the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for the commencement of Ibadan Dry Port before the end of May.

This was made known by Amaechi on Monday when he paid a visit to the newly crowned Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Olalekan Balogun, at his Alarere Palace in Ibadan, as part of consultation towards his presidential aspiration to take over from President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

Amaechi made the promise while responding to a request from Senator Kola Balogun (PDP-Oyo South Senatorial District), for the completion of the Ibadan Inland Dry Port.

Bottlenecks surrounding the project have been resolved

The minister said that all the bottlenecks surrounding the delay of the project had been resolved assuring the Olubadan and the general public that the project would commence operation once approved by FEC.

He, also assured the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), that a railway station would be named after an Ibadan indigene, pointing out that it would not be within the Ibadan Railway corridor.

The APC presidential aspirant said he possessed all that would take him to make Nigeria better if given the opportunity to become the president.

Amaechi said he was a detribalised Nigerian, adding that as a firm believer in the Nigerian project, his cabinet as the Governor in Rivers had a sizable number of non-indigenes and does not belong to any geopolitical bloc as far as his presidential ambition is concerned.

What you should know

The N43.2 billion Dry Port project which was conceived by the Federal Government under the administration of the late former Governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, has faced a series of delays, which some stakeholders attributed to change of government in Oyo state and change of location.
The negotiations and discussions for the project which was initially conceptualized as an Inland Container Depot (ICD), had to start afresh following the emergence of a new government under a different political party in 2019.
Amaechi during a meeting with the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, in May 2021, urged the Oyo state government to put infrastructures in place for the Inland Dry Port in Ibadan and access roads to service the dry port and the train station in Moniya; or relinquish the project to another state along the corridor.
He expressed his opposition to the Oyo state government asking for equity in the Dry Port project because of the provision of infrastructure.

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