Matilda Omonaiye/
Former Minister of Education, Dr Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili, has called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately terminate the controversial £746 million financing deal for the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s Apapa and Tin Can Island ports, alleging that the agreement is shrouded in secrecy and could further deepen the country’s debt burden.
Ezekwesili, a former Vice President of the World Bank for Africa, made the call in a strongly worded statement titled, “President Tinubu, Terminate the Dodgy £746 Million Ports Deal.”
She said 152 days after the agreement was signed with the United Kingdom at Windsor Castle, Nigerians had yet to be provided with full details of its terms, including the interest rate, repayment schedule and safeguards against foreign-exchange risks.
According to her, the prolonged lack of disclosure is particularly troubling against the backdrop of Nigeria’s rising public debt and growing debt-service obligations.
“Nigeria’s public debt has exploded from ₦87 trillion in May 2023 to over ₦152 trillion today,” Ezekwesili said, alleging that debt servicing now consumes more than 60 per cent of government revenues.
She described the £746 million arrangement as a sovereign debt obligation rather than a grant or development aid, saying it was arranged by Citibank London and guaranteed by UK Export Finance to fund the rehabilitation of the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports.
Ezekwesili further alleged that at least £236 million under the arrangement had been earmarked for British suppliers, including a £70 million contract secured by British Steel.
“Nigeria borrowed the money, British companies will harvest the contracts and Nigerians will repay the debt,” she said.
The former minister identified three major areas of concern — currency exposure, procurement and the government’s choice of financing model.
On foreign-exchange risk, Ezekwesili questioned the wisdom of taking on a sterling-denominated obligation at a time when the naira had suffered significant depreciation, alleging that no hedging framework had been publicly disclosed.
She also raised questions over the procurement process, citing reports linking ITB Nigeria, a company associated with businessman Gilbert Chagoury, to the project.
Ezekwesili alleged that there was no publicly available evidence of a competitive tender, involvement of the Bureau of Public Procurement or published criteria used in selecting the contractor.
She argued that the Federal Government should instead have considered private-sector financing through a concession arrangement similar to the model adopted for the Lekki Deep Sea Port.
According to her, the Lekki port was developed at a cost of about $1.5 billion under a Build-Operate-Transfer arrangement without imposing sovereign debt on Nigeria.
She questioned why commercially viable ports such as Apapa and Tin Can Island could not similarly attract private capital.
“These two ports do not need sovereign debt to be rehabilitated. What they need is a governance framework that attracts private capital on Nigeria’s terms,” she stated.
Ezekwesili accused the administration of failing to adequately explain why sovereign borrowing was preferred to a private financing model, warning that the absence of transparency could create the perception that politically connected interests stood to benefit while taxpayers bore the debt.
She consequently demanded the immediate suspension of further drawdowns under the facility and urged Tinubu to return to the National Assembly with a competitive concession framework for the two ports.
“If the terms cannot withstand public scrutiny, they should not be implemented,” she said.
The former minister also urged civil society organisations to invoke Nigeria’s Freedom of Information Act to demand documents relating to the transaction from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Nigerian Ports Authority and Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.
She called for similar requests to be made in the United Kingdom to obtain relevant documentation from UK Export Finance.
While acknowledging the urgent need to modernise Apapa and Tin Can Island ports, Ezekwesili insisted that infrastructure development should not come at the expense of transparency, competitive procurement and fiscal responsibility.
“A port built on undisclosed debt and non-tendered contracts entrenches the same rotten governance structure that has harmed Nigeria for decades,” she said.
Ezekwesili, who also served as Minister of Solid Minerals and co-founded Transparency International, linked the controversy to what she described as a broader accountability problem in public finance.
“To President Tinubu, terminate the dodgy ports deal now,” she said.
She also urged Nigerians to demand greater accountability over borrowing undertaken in their name, warning that future generations could ultimately shoulder the repayment burden.
As of the allegations contained in Ezekwesili’s statement, they represent her claims and criticisms of the transaction. The Federal Government and other parties named in the statement would need to respond to the specific concerns she raised over the financing terms, procurement process and project structure.
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