2027: Obi promises to begin construction of Ibom Deep Seaport if elected president

The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) Peter Obi has promised to begin construction of the Ibom Deep Seaport in Akwa Ibom State, renewing attention on a project that has featured prominently in the campaign promises of Nigerian presidential candidates.

Mr Obi made the promise in a Facebook post on Saturday, following his visit to Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, on Friday, where he attended a homecoming ceremony organised in honour of Seriake Dickson, a senator and national leader of the NDC.

He said his proposed administration would begin efforts to upgrade ports across the Niger Delta, including those in Warri, Port Harcourt and Calabar, while commencing construction of the Ibom Deep Seaport in Akwa Ibom and establishing a new port in Bayelsa State.

“In Bayelsa, I pledged that we would begin efforts to upgrade ports throughout the Niger Delta, including those in Warri, Port Harcourt, and Calabar. We will also begin construction of the long-delayed Ibaka seaport in Akwa Ibom State and establish a new port in Bayelsa State to serve our riverine communities and the broader Niger Delta more effectively,” he wrote.

The latest pledge is noteworthy because the Ibom Deep Seaport, originally conceived as the Ibaka Deep Seaport and Industrial City, has remained unrealised decades after its conception.

It also places Mr Obi alongside President Bola Tinubu, who promised to deliver the project during his 2023 presidential campaign in Akwa Ibom.

At the All Progressives Congress campaign rally at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo on 30 January 2023, Mr Tinubu told supporters: “We will do mechanised farming. We will export food from Akwa Ibom. We will build your deep seaport.”

He cited the Lekki Deep Seaport, developed during his tenure as Lagos governor, as an example of what he could achieve in Akwa Ibom.

Mr Tinubu’s promise was followed by further assurances after he became president. In January 2024, Governor Umo Eno said the president had asked him to submit a memorandum seeking federal government support for the project.

Mr Eno disclosed this after meeting Mr Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, saying he had requested the president’s intervention in the seaport and the state’s oil palm development programme.

In March 2026, the governor again publicly acknowledged the president’s assurances, saying Mr Tinubu had repeatedly told him during their discussions: “I will give you the Ibom Deep Seaport.”

“I hold on to that promise, and I know it shall come to pass,” Mr Eno said.

Mr Obi had also promised to develop the seaport during his 2023 presidential campaign.

At a Labour Party rally in Uyo in December 2022, he said he would ensure the project was put in place if elected president, describing the decades of promises surrounding it as unacceptable.

He subsequently told journalists that Akwa Ibom was not asking for a favour by seeking the seaport, arguing that it would provide Nigeria with an export channel and strengthen the country’s productive capacity.

In an interview published by Vanguard in January 2023, Mr Obi said: “We are not doing Akwa Ibom a favour by developing the Deep Seaport; rather, Akwa Ibom is offering us a space to develop an export channel which I am going to develop.”

Former Vice-President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, who was the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, campaigned in Uyo in October 2022. However, reports of his campaign promises at the rally focused on national economic recovery, security and unity, rather than a specific commitment to construct the Ibom Deep Seaport. He promised to build a refinery in Akwa Ibom.

Atiku, however, promised in February 2023 to complete the deep seaport project in Bonny, Rivers State, if elected president.

The Ibom Deep Seaport was conceived during the administration of former Akwa Ibom Governor Victor Attah. The project was intended to create a major maritime and industrial hub in the state’s coastal area.

Its proposed location spanning the Atlantic Ocean in Mbo and Ibeno local government areas is expected to provide access to international shipping routes and support trade, industrial development and employment.

Despite repeated political commitments, the project has yet to materialise.

Mr Obi’s latest statement did not provide a construction timeline, financing arrangement, implementation framework or details of the proposed federal and state government partnership.

He also did not indicate whether his pledge was based on any existing approval or agreement with the relevant federal maritime agencies.

In his Facebook post, Mr Obi also pledged investments in healthcare and education, improved national security, the fight against corruption and measures to lift Nigerians out of poverty.