President Bola Tinubu will commission the Funtua Inland Dry Port, in Katsina State, next week Thursday, May 9, 2024.
This was revealed in an invitation released by the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, in collaboration with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council.
The project, which is an initiative of the Shippers council in conjunction with Equatorial Marine Oil & Gas, the concessionaire of the facility, is meant to be pivotal to the seeming economic empowerment of the zone through maritime services.
In February 2023, the then Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, declared Funtua Inland Dry Port as the Port of Origin and Final Destination.
He declared this on February 2, 2023 during tour of the facility. The minister said, “In the exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 30 of the Nigerian Ports Authority Act, Cap. N126 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and all other powers enabling me as the Honourable Minister of Transportation hereby declare the Funtua Inland Dry Port as a Port of Origin and Final Destination with effect from 2nd February 2023 to commence full operations.
“By this declaration, the Dry Port shall have all the prerequisites of an International Port including Customs, Immigration, Port Health Officials and all relevant Government Agencies approved to operate in a port.
“I call on National and International maritime practitioners, Shippers, Shipping Companies, landlocked countries and port users to take full advantage of this facility for importing and exporting their cargoes.”
