By Our Correspondent
President Muhammadu Buhari has reassured the Cross River State governor, Senator Ben Ayade of the commitment of the Federal Government to see to the actualization of the Bakassi Deep Seaport embarked upon by the state government.
The President and the governor held discussions behind closed doors at the Aso Rock presidential villa recently.
Buhari first conveyed the commitment of the Federal Government to the project in October 2015 when he flagged off the construction of the 260km superhighway which will serve as the evacuation corridor for the seaport.
Sources privy to the meeting in Aso Rock that lasted 45 minutes said the President restated his earlier pledge to assist the state actualize the project.
President Buhari was quoted as pledging his commitment in ensuring that the project which will be the deepest seaport in the country, is completed on time. The President reportedly charged the governor to fast track the process for the construction of the port.
The meeting is coming barely two months after the Federal Ministry of Transport granted the state the approval for the procurement of a financial advisor. Before then, it had set up an advisory and implementation committee for the project.
Recall that Governor Ben Ayade recently visited the President to discuss among other things the proposed Bakassi deep seaport project and the 260 kilometer superhighway estimated to cost the state about N700 billion.
The deep seaport will boost the export of produce such as rice and banana as well as solid minerals.
The governor was also quoted to have said the deep seaport would not compete with existing Calabar ports, but would complement it because the Bakassi port would be a 16 meters draft and will accommodate mother vessels especially from the Far East.