Reports indicate that Tinubu had the final say in awarding the contract to Chagoury’s firm.
The Nigerian government has awarded a $700 million contract for the renovation of Tin Can and Apapa ports in Lagos to ITB Nigeria, a construction firm owned by Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire Gilbert Chagoury, a close ally of President Bola Tinubu.
The decision, finalised at a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in early February, has raised concerns over ITB Nigeria’s lack of experience in port development.
Reports indicate that Tinubu had the final say in awarding the contract to Chagoury’s firm.
This follows a controversial multi-trillion-naira contract awarded to another Chagoury-owned company, Hitech Construction, for the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, a project that faced scrutiny despite government assurances of Hitech’s expertise.
The Lagos port renovation project is set to commence in the second quarter of 2025 and will be financed through a loan from Nigeria’s Citibank, backed by UK Export Finance.
Afreximbank has also signalled financial support, while APM Terminals, which operates Apapa port, has proposed a $500 million investment currently under review by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
Chagoury is also facilitating talks to introduce Dubai-based DP World as a new port operator in Lagos.
On February 26, Tinubu met with DP World Chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Chagoury, and Marine and Blue Economy Minister Adegboyega Oyetola to discuss potential investments.
Existing operators, including APM Terminals, are closely monitoring the developments, as some Tin Can port concessions are already open for bidding.
CMA Terminals, a subsidiary of France’s CMA CGM, currently controls Lekki port under an agreement preventing the establishment of any new container terminal in Lagos before December 2028.
Despite high regulatory fees and customs charges, Lagos ports remain a critical entry point for trade in Africa. In 2006, APM Terminals secured a 25-year concession for Apapa port in a deal worth nearly $1 billion.
Africa Intelligence reports that the business connections between Gilbert Chagoury and the Tinubu administration go beyond awarded contracts.
"The links between the Chagoury family and the Tinubu clan are numerous. The president’s son, Oluwaseyi Tinubu, known as Seyi Tinubu, is on the board of CDK Integrated Industries, another subsidiary of the Chagoury group.
“President Tinubu has since taking office in 2023 awarded numerous contracts to the Lebanese-Nigerian businessman, who backed him during his election campaign and is expected to play a major role in his bid for re-election in 2027,” the report says.
Lagos-Calabar Highway Controversy
On April 11, 2024, SaharaReporters reported that the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, said that the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project would cost a tentative sum of N15.356 trillion and that the project would be completed in eight years.
Umahi also said that the contractor handling the project, Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech Construction Company Limited (Hitech) did not do any competitive bidding for the project, rather, the contract was awarded to the company based on its track record, not on sentiments as being insinuated in some quarters.
When asked for clarifications on the cost of the project, how it was approved in line with the Public Procurement Act and if due process was followed, Umahi said, “I don’t understand what you mean by due process. Yes, due process was followed. People are concerned about whether it was appropriated for, and I say yes.
“In the 2024 Appropriation, you will find Lagos-Calabar coastal road and it is appropriated for. In appropriation and procurement, what is in the appropriation may not necessarily be what is in the procurement but the most important thing is that it is appropriated for and it followed due process.
“The due process is that we did our in-house evaluation of what we submitted. Some people said that this project is PPP (Public–private partnership), it is not PPP. It is EPC+F, which is Engineering, Procurement, Construction plus Finance. In EPC+F. There is a commitment in terms of funds from the Federal Government, depending on the negotiation.”
On the bidding process of the project as the contractor handling the project, Chagoury, has a close relationship with President Bola Tinubu, the minister said, “I am an engineer. I work by reality and not by sentiment.
“In the procurement act which is a law, you are allowed as a ministry to invite contractors that have special skills in a particular kind of work and negotiate with them and give out the job to them. We did that on the Third Mainland Bridge project.
“When it comes to the coastal road, we looked at the problem of ocean surge and the pedigree of the companies that have the capacity and track record of doing that, we looked at the Eco Atlantic in Lagos and remembered how Hitech was the only company that was able to solve the problem of flood that was taking of Victoria Island.
“They (Hitech) have the pedigree and track record of the ability to contain the ocean surge problems. They also have a proven track record of reinforced concrete road pavement.”
Chagoury’s Links To Illegal Donations To US Election
SaharaReporters on September 24, 2023 reported how the multi-billion firm awarded the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Hitech Road Construction Company, a subsidiary of Hitech Construction Company was owned by a Nigerian-Lebanese developer with alleged criminal records, Gilbert Chagoury.
Hitech is a division of the Chagoury Group, a business conglomerate owned by Chagoury, a known business partner of the Nigerian President, Tinubu.
Eko Atlantic in Lagos is also the brainchild of the businessman.
Years back, Chagoury was banned from getting a visa on terrorism grounds for allegedly funding a political coalition, Hezbollah, which the United States deems a terrorism group.
He was also in the past accused of drug dealings by the US and Lebanese governments.
The Los Angeles Times, which did a deep dive on Chagoury — in its August 30, 2016 edition, said that Chagoury’s visa troubles likely stem from his support of a Christian Lebanese politician.
The politician, Michel Aoun, is part of the same political coalition as Hezbollah, which the United States deems a terror group.
Since the 1990s, Chagoury was reported to have cultivated a friendship with the Clinton’s family, in part by writing big checks, including an estimated $5 million to the Clinton Foundation, this is despite being a non-citizen forbidden by law to make donations to the campaigns of US politicians.
He however flouted that law with his numerous donations. By the time Hillary Clinton became secretary of State, the relationship was strong enough for one of Bill Clinton’s closest aides to push for Chagoury to get access to top diplomats and thus began the US exploring a deal to build a consulate at the Eko Atlantic city.
Between 2012 and 2016, he sought to help fund election campaigns of some US politicians. He donated to the Republicans and was listed as a sponsor for a 2014 art exhibit at the George W Bush Presidential Center.
One other campaign he funded was that of Jeff Fortenberry, a US lawmaker, in 2016.
Fortenberry later convicted of concealing information and making false statements to US federal authorities who were investigating illegal contributions made by Chagoury who is a foreign national, to his re-election campaign.
Fortenberry resigned from office after his conviction.
However, in 2019, Chagoury reportedly paid $1.8 million in fines to resolve the investigation when it began.
Born in Nigeria to Lebanese immigrants, the businessman flourished in the 1990s through his close association with the late dictator, Sani Abacha by receiving development deals and oil franchises.
After Abacha’s death in 1998, the Nigerian government hired lawyers to track down funds stolen through associates of the late dictator.
The trail led to bank accounts all over the world, some under Gilbert Chagoury’s control.
In 2000, the Lebanese businessman was convicted by a Swiss court for laundering some of the funds Abacha looted from Nigeria.
He agreed to pay a fine of about 1 million Swiss francs (about $600,000) at that time to get his Swiss conviction expunged and handed back $66 million to the Nigerian government but denied knowing the funds were stolen.