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Opposition party says port has become a “campaign tool of deceit” as Tinubu re-approves a project Buhari already cleared in 2020

By Chukwudi Abiandu

ABUJA, Nov. 8, 2026. The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the ruling APC of “endless lies and deceit” after President Bola Tinubu again announced approval for the Ibom Deep Sea Port, a project the Federal Executive Council cleared nearly six years ago.

Tinubu made the announcement on Friday in Uyo at a rally in the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium. “It’s approved,” he said. The approval came after Governor Umo Eno pledged two million votes for Tinubu’s 2027 re-election if the Federal Government delivered the port.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, Esq., the NDC dismissed the move as “hocus-pocus,” “hogwash” and “barefaced lies and shenanigans of a rudderless party.” It asked: “How many times will the APC approve the Ibom Deep Sea Port?”

Approved in 2020, promised in 2023, “approved” again in 2026

The party laid out the record:

• December 16, 2020: President Muhammadu Buhari’s FEC approved the first phase of the $4.6 billion project, naming Bollore/Power China as preferred bidder so construction could begin.
• January 30, 2023: Campaigning at the same Uyo stadium, Tinubu told supporters: “We will build your seaport.”
• November 6, 2026: Tinubu promised the port again, more than three years into his presidency.

“Obviously, this is another round of cheap promises that will not be kept or honoured,” the NDC said. “All talk and no action.”

The party accused the APC of treating the port as a vote-harvesting device, calling it “a campaign tool of deceit” and comparing it to the unmet promise of uninterrupted electricity. “As Nigerians are still waiting for the APC and President Tinubu to give us uninterrupted electricity supply, so Akwa Ibomites are waiting endlessly for the promised deep sea port,” the statement said.

The NDC urged voters to “shine their eyes” and “dump the APC into the abyss of socio-political irrelevance,” adding: “A New Nigeria is POssible with NDC.”

Government side: Tinubu said the approval reflects his administration’s determination to bring development closer to the people. Governor Eno told him he felt “fulfilled” by the decision. Eno later thanked Tinubu for approving the project’s financing arrangements. The APC had not responded to the NDC’s statement at the time of writing.