The Bola Tinubu administration has come under scrutiny after it awarded a $700 million contract to renovate the Tin Can Island and Apapa ports in Lagos to ITB Nigeria, a company owned by billionaire Gilbert Chagoury. The massive contract, which is meant to modernize two of Nigeria’s busiest ports, has drawn widespread criticism for allegedly violating the Public Procurement Act of 2007 by bypassing a competitive bidding process.
Reports indicate that the contract was granted without an open and transparent tender, a direct violation of the legal requirement for all high-value government contracts. The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) has not released any waiver or official justification for the single-source selection of ITB Nigeria. This lack of transparency has fueled a controversy that has been further deepened by ITB Nigeria’s recent labor issues, which saw over 150 workers dismissed after protesting poor wages and discriminatory treatment.
The controversy has drawn renewed attention to President Tinubu’s long-standing ties with Gilbert Chagoury. The billionaire, through his Chagoury Group conglomerate, has secured two of the largest infrastructure contracts under the current administration, the other being the ₦15 trillion Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. Both projects have faced criticism for being awarded without transparent selection processes or public disclosure, a pattern that critics say reflects political favoritism and a disregard for public procurement regulations.
Chagoury himself has a controversial history. He previously returned tens of millions of dollars linked to the Sani Abacha money laundering scandal and paid fines in the U.S. for violating campaign finance laws. Despite these past issues, his firms continue to thrive in Nigeria’s business and political circles, securing major government deals that bypass standard procurement procedures.
The massive port reconstruction, which the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy has described as a “modernisation drive,” is now a focal point of criticism. The lack of a competitive tender and the association with a controversial figure like Chagoury have raised serious questions about the transparency and accountability of the Tinubu administration’s infrastructure projects. The controversy suggests a worrying trend of political influence and favoritism overshadowing due process in the award of multi-million-dollar government contracts.
