For commissioning the uncompleted Baro Port, a group under the aegis of The Blue Resolution Initiative in Niger State has blamed President Muhammadu Buhari, saying the moves was politically done prior to the 2019 general elections.
While urging the Federal Government to explain the true intentions of Baro Port to Nigerians, the group said despite the absence of reasonable structures in place, the project was certified and commissioned.
Addressing newsmen on Tuesday at the Abdusalami Youth Center, the Secretary General of the group, Ibrahim Akib Ja’afaru, said: “President Buhari only commissioned an empty warehouse and not a port.”
Ja’afaru disclosed that after the team and other youth leaders visited the Baro site, it discovered that “no serious dredging of the River Niger took place.
“If any was even done, then it was not intended for any big ship or vessels but barges of low or medium economic activities.”
The group, while questioning the Federal Government’s seriousness, said: “The port commissioning was politically motivated.
“It’s a lip service that has been politicised.
“Mr. President only Commissioned an empty warehouse.”
Ja’afaru lamented that 17 months after the said commissioning by President Buhari, the port remains abandoned.
He said: “We call on citizens and other stakeholders in the Nigeria to rise up to the clarion call in making the project a reality considering its economic, social and other benefits to the country.”
He further hinted that the group will not be deterred by efforts by some government organisations like Nigerian Inland Waterways Agency, Lokoja to frustrate them by denying them access into the port with insinuations that they were against the government and President Buhari.