Tinubu awards $7 billion Ogun deep seaport deal to Chagoury-linked DP World MEA

President Bola Tinubu’s administration has awarded two Ogun deep seaport contracts worth billions of dollars to DP World, a scandal-scarred Dubai shipping company mentioned in paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s files and linked to his longtime Lebanese ally, Gilbert Chagoury.

Ogun governor’s media aide, Kayode Akinmade, released a statement on Thursday announcing that representatives of Ogun State and DP World signed MoUs for the projects, which are the Gateway Deep Sea Port and Ogun State Blue Marine Special Economic Zone.

“We are doing more than signing agreements; we are laying the foundation for a new chapter in Nigeria’s development,” Mr Tinubu said, noting the Ogun seaport will decongest the Lagos port and reduce delays.

Mr Chagoury, convicted and once banned from the U.S. over corruption scandals, arranged a meeting between DP World’s then-CEO Sultan bin Sulayem, Mr Tinubu and Minister of Maritime and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, in February 2025.

The trio met on February 26, 2025, when they hatched plans for the Ogun State deep seaport deals, projected to attract more than $7 billion in investment and create at least 50,000 jobs.

However,  that plan was believed to have hit a snag after Mr Sulayem’s unplanned resignation as CEO at DP World over the Epstein files in February.

Mr Sulayem recommended that the paedophile try out a Japanese spa massage where special masseuses offered services like “face sitting” and “ejaculation by hand massage”.

The blowback caused entities like British International Investment and Canada’s La Caisse to cut ties with DP World, hounding the Dubai company to “shed light” on Mr Sulayem’s relationship with the notorious sex offender “and take the necessary action”.

But while other international firms were cutting off ties with DP World, Nigeria appeared to be solidifying its business relations with the Dubai-based company, resulting in the MoU signing on Thursday.

Mr Chagoury, 79, despite his sordid conviction record, continues to enjoy unfettered access to Mr Tinubu while cornering trillion-naira-worth of lucrative deals from his administration, often skipping the bidding phase.

Mr Chagoury’s Hi-Tech company was awarded an $11 billion Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project in 2024.

Despite lacking seaport construction experience, ITB Construction Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Chagoury Group, was awarded N1.1 trillion to refurbish two major Lagos seaports, Tin Can and Apapa.

Mr Chagoury, a Nigerian-Lebanese business mogul who moved Sani Abacha’s billion-dollar loot and became a target of American authorities for bribing politicians and financing suspected terrorists, enjoys a different reality in Nigeria, where his longtime friendship with Mr Tinubu continues to yield profitable deals, with his companies being spoon-fed juicy contracts without having to bid.

He was conferred with the national award of the Grand Commander of the Niger in January. (Peoples Gazette)