Sophia Michaels
Bayo Onanuga, President Bola Tinubu’s aide has made a u-turn on a statement he earlier posted on X about shipping giant, Maersk investing $600m in Nigeria’s port sector.
Following Maersk’s denial, he has now deleted the tweet.
In a statement released by the presidential media which Onanuga shared on X, it was claimed that the investment was secured during a World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh over the weekend.
It was disclosed that A.P Moller-Maersk chairman Robert Maersk Uggla had discussed the investment with President Tinubu on the sidelines of a meeting discussing energy development and growth. The statement even included a direct quote attributed to Uggla saying: “We believe in Nigeria, and we will invest $600 million in existing facilities and make the ports accommodating for bigger ships”.
However, Lloyds List, one of the world’s oldest continuously running journals, had reported that the claim appears to be “news” to Maersk officials. Maersk also stated such a deal does not exist. Company officials said while Uggla did meet the president, no such deal had been signed.
“Maersk has been present in Nigeria for 35 years and, as a global provider of logistics services, we remain committed to developing opportunities for growth to people, the port sector and businesses locally,” the company said in a statement to Lloyd’s List.
“Therefore, it is natural to have an ongoing dialogue with the administration. However, we are not able to comment on any investment talks.”
