Former Managing Director of Niger Dock Plc and Chairman of the Advisory Committee for Oron Nation on the Ibaka Deep Seaport, Engr. Nkpubre Okon Nkpubre, has pushed back against Governor Umo Eno’s recent remarks regarding the ongoing Ibom Deep Seaport controversy, remarking that the governor’s stance appears to be rooted in misinformation.
In response to a viral video in which Governor Eno urged Oron stakeholders to support the project, Engr. Nkpubre clarified that the Oron Nation has never opposed the development of the Ibom Deep Seaport.
Instead, he emphasised that the community remains firmly against the relocation of the project from its originally approved site at Ibaka Bay.
“Oron people do not object to the name change from Ibaka Deep Seaport to Ibom Deep Seaport,” Nkpubre stated, adding that, “Our concern is the project’s migration to the Ibeno seaside, a move predicated on what he described as a questionable site-selection process.”
The former Niger Dock boss disclosed that he had previously forwarded Oron Nation’s advocacy documents and concerns to the former Commissioner for the Ibom Deep Seaport, Ini Ememobong, with the expectation that the Governor would be properly briefed.
Engr. Nkpubre also dismissed claims that Oron stakeholders were responsible for driving away Bolloré of France, the project’s former preferred core investor. He explained that community leaders only petitioned the investor after repeated attempts to secure an audience with the state government had been ignored.
Furthermore, he expressed strong opposition to the proposed “Dugout” deep seaport model. He warned that excavating approximately 50 million cubic metres of earth to create an artificial harbour would pose significant environmental risks.
He noted that plans to dump the resulting excavated materials in the marshy areas of Mbo Local Government Area remain unacceptable to the people of Oron.
Addressing territorial concerns, Nkpubre pointed out that the proposed Ibeno seaside location falls entirely within Ibeno Local Government Area, refuting claims that the project remains within Oron territory.
Tracing the project’s history, he explained that the Federal Government originally conceived the Ibaka Deep Seaport as pat of an integrated maritime infrastructure scheme, which included a mega-shipyard for the maintenance of FPSOs and supertankers, alongside a Free Trade Zone.
He noted that comprehensive studies by a Federal Government Project Delivery Team identified Ibaka Bay as the preferred site, supported by a 2015 technical study that confirmed the bay possessed natural depth characteristics requiring minimal dredging.
Nkpubre heavily criticised the subsequent siteselection document used to justify the relocation, describing it as technically flawed and insufficient to override the findings of earlier, more rigorous due diligence studies.
He maintained that there is no valid technical or economic justification for moving the project from Ibaka Bay, suggesting instead that the decision was likely influenced by vested interests and ethnic considerations.
Despite his sharp criticism of the projects direction, Nkpubre acknowledged Governor Eno as a humble and well-meaning leader.
He concluded by urging the governor to revisit the concerns raised by Oron stakeholders and to pursue a resolution that ensures fairness for all parties involved.
