Transportation Minister, Hon. Chibuike Amaechi has revealed that Nigeria stands to generate about $360 billion from the Lekki deep seaport in 45 years once the project is completed.
The disclosure was made by Amaechi in Lagos on Sunday after a visit to the project site.
Amaechi explained that private investors would be repaid and that the federal government would then take over the port.
The minister said that the project would contribute about $360 billion over the course of the project, adding that the $360bln seems huge, Nigeria needs far more of it to achieve our goals.
He said, “But obviously taxes will be collected here and even them (contractors) will pay taxes. I am not sure there were any taxes mentioned in the agreement, but I doubt there is any tax exemption. So, we will collect taxes here, the confidence in giving them the project is because of the taxes that we will collect here that will help us in the construction of other projects”.
Amaechi remarked that the port was not spacious enough to handle expected increases in economic activity in the future and hinted that it would be necessary to expand.
Additionally, it depends on how fast the economy grows before then. Economic growth will put pressure on the expansion.
He said his ministry had told the Nigerian cabinet that the demand for port activities in the country exceeded the supply in Tincan and Apapa in Lagos, hence the need for a deep seaport in Lekki.
He said, “This is the first seaport in Nigeria. What we had all these while were river ports, Tincan is a river port, Apapa is a river port and port Harcourt too. Right here, you have 16.5 metres drafts which are good for the country, but the country needs more than just one of these ports because of the increase in commercial activities in the future.
“We need just more than Lagos deep seaport and for me, before I leave office, I will emphasize the construction of the Bonny deep seaport.”
