Oyo State govt to stake 15 per cent equity in Ibadan Inland Dry Port

The Oyo State Government has announced that it will invest 15 per cent equity in the Ibadan Inland Dry Port (IDP) project, located in Olorisha-Oko, to ensure its completion and smooth operation.

The Governor, Seyi Makinde, disclosed this on Friday when the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, led a delegation, including officials of his ministry and the Nigerian Shippers Council to Government House, Agodi, Ibadan.

Makinde and the Minister, who also jointly inspected the location of the dry port and the Moniya Terminal of the Lagos-Ibadan rail line, said the port would bring enormous economic benefits to Nigerians and relieve the Apapa Ports, Lagos, of congestion.

The governor said the state wanted the dry port to start operation almost immediately, adding that the government would do all that is necessary to ensure the bottlenecks are resolved.

“We felt that irrespective of who is in government at the moment, it is better for the state government to have a skin in the game, so Oyo State is pushing to have 15 per cent equity in the dry port and industrial park, we believe that this would help the project in the future,” he said.

On infrastructure at the port corridor, Makinde said his administration had completely reconstructed the Moniya – Iseyin road, which links the Inland Dry Port (IDP) at N10 billion.

“We are thinking of a very solid infrastructure that will ensure that the headache at Apapa in Lagos doesn’t happen here, we will be able to handle it very well and plan in this place; that is, the scheme and scope of infrastructure we are thinking about.

Makinde promised to further reinforce the synergy between the state government and the Federal Government over the project.

“You have my commitment and the state government that we would do everything to make this project come to reality and the contractors to move to the site as quickly as possible” he assured the minister.

The minister lamented the delays in the take-off of the project due to encumbrances from the state government.

Amaechi, who said Ibadan had been selected for the project before the Buhari administration came into power, said the administration wanted to start the project and complete it before the end of its tenure in 2023.

He, however, noted that FG was having issues in securing the 90 hectares of land granted by the state government for the project, saying only 40 hectares have been released.

He said the ministry had complained to the state government because the preferred bidders needed to do impossible construction design as the entire land had not been secured.