Joseph Atainyang, Uyo
Coalition for Development (C4D) has faulted chairman, State Technical Committee on Seaport, Mrs Mfon Usoro on the relocation of Ibaka Deep Seaport.
The group in a statement on Wednesday, May 19, 2021 berated Usoro for lying to the public about the long proposed Ibaka Deep Seaport.
The statement, entitled, “IDSP’s controversy: Exposing Usoro’s slip of logic,” the group picked holes in Usoro response to Mr E.O. Nkpubre, chairman of a technical committee emplaced by Oro people to examine the issue of the seaport.
Usoro was alleged to have said that Ibaka was never designated as the location for the seaport.
The advocacy group, however, lambasted the former NIMASA boss for attempting to distort history and by claiming that her watery explanation on April 17, 2021 was accepted by Oro people.
The coalition which is currently mobilizing for the recall of Hon. Nse Ekpenyong, the member representing Oron Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives over poor representation, expressed shock that Usoro, who was given a copy of the petition for transmission to the Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State for a subsequent meeting could claim that her explanation was considered satisfactory.
The release reads in full: “Mrs Mfon Usoro is the chairperson of the Technical Committee for the Actualization of Ibaka Deep Seaport. The Committee was set up by His Excellency Udom Emmanuel 12 days after his inauguration as governor on May 29, 2015.
“Other members of the committee were Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, Mr. Chidi Izuwah, Engr Ekong Umo-Otong, Rear Admiral Francis Akpan, Barr Aniekan Ukpanah, Mr. Charles Udonwah, Mrs Akon Eyakenyi and Engr. Etido Inyang.
“With a BSc in Sociology from the University of Calabar, LLB from the University of Buckingham, B.L from the Nigerian Law School and an LLM, Mrs. Usoro was the pioneer Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA) from August 2006 to May 2007.
“As shown in the duration of her service, Mrs Usoro did not head NIMASA for up to 12 months. She later became a guess of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) leading her leaving the office prematurely. One thing stands on its own; she is not an engineer of any kind, let alone a marine scientist.
“A report first published by Money Management Series (MMS)-Plus on Sunday, 9 May, 2020 has eventually been syndicated in other Akwa Ibom State pro-government media: print, electronic and new media. The content therein is a perfect proof of what Mrs. Mfon Usoro and members of the Seaport actualization committee have settled to achieve.
“In what appeared to be a direct response to Engr Nkpubre Okon Nkpubre, who in a recent press interview, exposed the intent of the state government with regards to the location of the Seaport, Mrs. Usoro arrogated to herself the status of an expert in engineering.
“Engr Nkpubre who is the Chairman of Oro Technical Committee on the Ibaka Deep Seaport is the former Managing-Director of Niger Dock Plc. He was a former Director of Engineering, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and currently the Managing Consultant, Green Seas International Nig. Ltd.”
The group added that Usoro’s misinformation to the public on the location of the seaport questioned the technical basis of Nkpubre’s (an engineer) position espoused in the interview he granted on the subject matter.
The Coalition for Development, however, noted that the lack of a sustained sense of logic in Usoro’s scientifically shallow statement told the whole story. Her attempt to create the impression that Oro people were satisfied with the shallow explanation she and her committee members made at the Oro Civi Centre on the April 17, 2021 goes a long way to reveal how low the present administration in Akwa Ibom State is willing to go in the seaport issue.
“Oro people who have petitioned relevant organs of government had handed over a copy of that Petition to Mrs. Usoro to transmit directly to the Governor for in-depth consideration with a view to a subsequent meeting in which the issues raised therein would be addressed.
“None of the speakers on Oro’s part had hinted a satisfactory remark to suggest acceptance of that day’s theatrics. As indispensable stakeholders in the Seaport project, the consent and cooperation of Oro people are vital to the execution of that project.
“The environmental concern raised by reason of the dugout port was deliberately shrouded with silence as Usoro only dwelled on a report subsequently doctored to deviate from the original conception of the Seaport.
“As one who is neither an engineer nor a marine scientist, either Mrs. Usoro is having difficulty interpreting the document or is deliberately giving it a skewed interpretation to justify the attempt to alter the location of the project.
“First, Usoro claimed that the project had never been located at Ibaka. The begging question becomes, why was this project called Ibaka Deep Seaport in the first place? Throughout the eight years of Godswill Obot Akpabio as governor, the seaport was called after Ibaka.
“Up to 2014, “Ibaka Deep Seaport” was listed on NPA website as one of the proposed seaports in the country. This coincided with the declaration of Ibaka as a Free Trade Zone, which is yet to be revoked. Various proclamations made by the then President Goodluck Jonathan clearly pointed to the location at Ibaka.
“Also, in 2009 Ibaka Communities were visited by the team of Consultants who interacted with the people. Ibaka Communities were also at Ibom Hall during the public hearing. At what point was the project sited outside Ibaka?
“The claim that Ibaka was never designated as a location for the Seaport is another lie Usoro publicly told to justify the conspiracy against Oro people. Several data exist to confirm that Ibaka has been the choicest location for a Seaport in Akwa Ibom State.
“For example, a 2013 publication in Finance News Magazine with the caption, “Akwa Ibom, Chinese Firm to Partner on Ibaka Seaport” reported how the then Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio received the architectural design of Ibaka Seaport from Managing Director of CCECC in Abuja.
“Usoro said that no existing document can proof that FG sited the project at Ibaka. But this statement is an apparent show of otiose logic. She said the consultant (Felak/MBTS) submitted the Outline Business Case (OBS) to the Ministerial Project Development Steering Committee (MPDSC) leading to its approval by Federal Executive Council (FEC).
“She equally stated that aside the MBTS and previous works by Worley Parsons, the Akwa Ibom State Government never contracted any other consultant. This according to her implies that Ibaka could not have become a preferred location.
“To cover up, she added that “Engr Nkpubre keeps referring to a document which wasn’t a final draft and is therefore wrong in his opinion.” She said the Engr has been corrected severally as his ‘referred document’ was not the version of the OBC submitted to the then minister through the MPDSC as was later approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC). Yet, she admitted that the same consultant revised the report in 2014 ‘with further research advised in the previous version’. She added, “It is that final OBC dated 2014 that recommended the seaside as the best location that was submitted to the Federal Government for approval which OBC was approved in 2015.”
“Interestingly, these declarations have become the greatest admissions to prove the existence of a subsequent political and engineering manipulations or “revision” in the final draft. It is now an open secret that after the consultant issued its first report in 2013, it received a subsequent instruction to revise the document with contradictory report which led to alteration of the initial location.
“The engineering, scientific, environmental and legal basis for this revision or reassessment of the location which now takes it away from Ibaka is what Oro people by their petitions are seeking to determine,” the group said in the statement.