The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has deleted his post on the X platform after shipping giant, Maersk, denied plans of investing $600 million in Nigeria’s port sector.
Naijaonpoint reports that a statement released by the presidential media team, which Onanuga shared on X, 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, Maersk officials, in a statement to Lloyds List, one of the world’s oldest continuously running journals, refuted the existence of a signed deal, emphasizing that while discussions with the Nigerian government were ongoing, no concrete investment plans had been established.
Maersk also stated such a deal does not exist as the claim appears to be news to its officials.
“Maersk has been present in Nigeria for 35 years and, as a global provider of logistics services, we remain committed to develop opportunities for growth to people, the port sector and businesses locally
“Therefore, it is natural to have an ongoing dialogue with the administration. However, we are not able to comment on any investment talks,” the company said in a statement to Lloyd’s List.
However, a check on Bayo Onanuga’s X handle shows that ... has been deleted.