President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (middle) flanked on the right by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun and on the left by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and UK Minister of Small Business and Economic Transformation, Blair McDougall, after the signing of a £746 million financing agreement to modernise Apapa and Tin Can Island ports in Lagos, held at Lancaster building, London, during Tinubu’s state visit on Thursday
Indications have emerged that ITB Nigeria, a construction firm owned by a Lebanese-Nigerian businessman and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s longtime associate, Gilbert Chagoury, will execute the renovation contract of Lagos Tin Can and Apapa Ports.
Tinubu had, in January, conferred the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), Nigeria’s second highest honour, on Chagoury “because of his contributions to the country.”
Last week, Nigeria and the United Kingdom during a meeting between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Tinubu at Downing Street in London, sealed a £746 million export finance deal to support the refurbishment of the two major ports in Lagos.
Checks showed that Chagoury, whose conglomerate operates through the Chagoury Group, was part of the delegation to London where the financing agreement for the Lagos ports refurbishment project was sealed during President Tinubu’s two-day state visit to the UK.
Under the agreement, the UK Export Finance (UKEF) will guarantee loans for the upgrade of the Apapa and Tin Can Island port complexes.
A report by Africa Intelligence in March 2025 had revealed that the Federal Executive Council’s meeting in February 2025 selected Chagoury Group and its subsidiary, ITB Nigeria, for the contract.
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, had also confirmed on October 22, 2025 that the federal government approved a sum of $1 billion (N1.4 trillion) for the modernisation of the Apapa and TinCan Island seaports in Lagos.
The minister spoke in Lagos at the 2025 Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Nigeria Conference, with the theme ‘Enhancing Logistics and Transport for a Sustainable Blue Economy in Nigeria.’
Chagoury co‑founded the Chagoury Group in Lagos in 1971, building it into a sprawling conglomerate with interests in construction, real estate, hospitality, manufacturing, infrastructure, among others.
Through the Chagoury Group, Gilbert Chagoury has built one of the most influential business empires in Nigeria, with interests spanning construction, manufacturing, real estate, and energy.
The Chagoury Group is handling the N15 trillion 700-kilometer 10-lane Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road project designed to connect Lagos to Cross River State, passing through Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa-Ibom states.
The section one, phase one of the project, handled by Chagoury’s Hitech, has been concluded.
Among its most prominent undertakings is the Eko Atlantic City project, a sprawling urban development built on reclaimed land along the Atlantic coastline.
The initiative has been widely described as a response to coastal erosion and urban expansion pressures in Lagos.
Chagoury Group’s role in delivering Eko Atlantic has earned it recognition as a key player in Nigeria’s infrastructure transformation, though the project has also attracted criticism over environmental and socio-economic concerns.
Key assets constructed by Chagoury included major property developments like Banana Island and ongoing large‑scale projects such as the Eko Atlantic City urban development through South Energyx Nigeria Limited, among others.
The federal government’s plan to channel the United Kingdom-backed loan into the development of Lagos ports has triggered widespread criticisms, with stakeholders accusing the authorities of deepening infrastructural imbalance by prioritising already functional facilities over neglected ones in other parts of the country.
Maritime operators and regional advocates argue that the move underscores a persistent policy tilt towards Lagos, despite repeated calls for the revitalisation of ports in the eastern and Niger Delta corridors, many of which remain underutilised due to years of neglect.
Industry players say the decision to invest fresh loan funds in Lagos, where port activities are already thriving, raises concerns about fairness and strategic planning.
According to them, ports such as Onne, Warri, Calabar and Ibom, and lately Baro Port in northern part of Nigeria, have suffered from poor infrastructure, low draught levels, security concerns and limited connectivity to major economic centres.
The Sea Empowerment and Research Centre (SEREC), in a statement titled ‘Re-balancing Nigeria’s Maritime Future: Integrating Port Decentralisation into National Reform Agenda Amid Lagos-Centric Investments’, signed by its Head of Research, Dr Eugene Nweke, said while the centre acknowledged the economic importance of ongoing upgrades in Lagos ports, it was concerned about “the continued structural neglect of other national port assets” which, according to him, poses long-term risks to trade efficiency, foreign exchange stability and inclusive economic growth.
The centre said it had critically reviewed the government’s recent port infrastructure financing arrangement supported by UK Export Finance, alongside the broader trajectory of Nigeria’s maritime development strategy.
It stated: “Nigeria’s maritime system remains heavily concentrated in Lagos, which currently accounts for the majority of cargo throughput.
“However, this concentration has resulted in persistent congestion and logistics inefficiencies, increased cost of imports and exports, overstretching of port and road infrastructure.
“At the same time, strategic ports in: Port Harcourt, Warri, Calabar and Onne, without mincing words, remain significantly underutilised due to policy neglect, inadequate infrastructure linkages and inconsistent investment priorities.”
The centre said the current port imbalance is not merely a logistics issue, but a macroeconomic concern with direct foreign exchange (FX) implications.
It further stated that overdependence on Lagos ports would ultimately drive up import handling costs and also encourages congestion-induced inefficiencies.
“It will effect port inefficiency and geographic concentration contribute indirectly to pressure on the Naira and Nigeria’s external reserves.
“The federal government’s investment in Lagos port infrastructure—though necessary—reflects a short-term efficiency-driven approach that is inconsistent with broader national objectives of trade facilitation, export diversification and regional economic inclusion,” the statement added.
A maritime expert and former Director of Operations at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Captain Warredi Enisuoh, said the government should redesign the available space at the different ports for ports automation, warehouse automation so that “Ñigeria could rake in more money instead of the economy stuck in traffic and ships waiting at anchorage which is the order of the day.”
He said the Nigeria-UK deal “should have been geared towards decentralization and automation which will bring down operational cost of shipping.”
A businessman, Okey Okonkwo, expressed concerns that the government should have considered upgrading ports in other parts of the country as well.
He said: “This deal is a clear example of the federal government’s lack of commitment to developing the Niger-Delta region. We have ports in Warri, Port Harcourt, and Calabar that are in dire need of upgrade, but the government is only focusing on Lagos.”
Lucky Amiwero, a shipping expert and maritime industry activist, also queried the rationale behind signing the loan deal for ports infrastructure upgrade.
Amiwero, who is also the president of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents and CEO of Eyis Resources Limited, noted that revenue from the port is more than enough to carry out any upgrade.
He queried what happened to the money realised from terminal operators when the nation’s seaports were concessioned in 2006.
He advised the government to utilise revenue collected from port operations for any future upgrade.
“Having stated all these, the next question is what happens to other ports? Why is government neglecting ports in other regions. Why not make viable them if they are not. It will improve efficiency and eliminate congestion that has bedeviled all the ports in Lagos.
“The government’s focus on Lagos ports is short-sighted and neglects the economic potential of other ports. We need to develop our ports in a way that promotes economic growth and development across all regions, not just Lagos,” he said.
Daily Trust