Maersk Has Not Denied FG’s $600 Million Seaport Investment Claim – Presidency

The presidency has asserted that Danish shipping and logistics company, A.P Moller-Maersk, failed to comment on a supposed $600 million investment in Nigeria’s seaport infrastructure.

Naija News reported that a statement released by the presidential media team claimed that President Bola Tinubu secured the investment 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.

While reacting to several media reports that Maersk denied such a million-dollar investment in Nigeria, Tinubu’s Special Assistant on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, posted via his X handle on Tuesday that the company hasn’t denied the FG’s statements.

Olusegun wrote, “The media’s headline choice sparked controversy, not Maersk’s. Maersk hasn’t contradicted or denied the Federal Government of Nigeria’s statements.”