The former Chief Press Secretary to the late Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, Mr Richard Olatunde, has criticised Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa over remarks suggesting that the Port Declaration secured by the Akeredolu administration for the Ondo Deep Sea Port was faulty.
Olatunde, in a statement on Sunday, said the governor’s comment during a media chat on Friday, March 6, 2026, amounted to a misrepresentation of the efforts made by the late governor in advancing the deep sea port project.
Aiyedatiwa had reportedly said that although the Akeredolu administration secured a Port Declaration, the document contained errors which his administration had to amend.
Reacting to the claim, Olatunde said the remark undermined the extensive work carried out by Akeredolu towards realising the seaport project in Ondo State. According to him, describing the effort as merely “Akeredolu started something” diminishes the commitment and groundwork laid by the late governor.
He explained that the Akeredolu administration engaged a consulting firm led by Mr Ekong Etim to conduct a feasibility study for the project. The study, he said, produced an Outline Business Case which established the viability of the proposed multipurpose deep sea port and was presented to the governor on August 15, 2020.
Olatunde further noted that the document was subsequently submitted to the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission for a Certificate of Compliance before it was forwarded to the Federal Ministry of Transportation.
He added that the Port Declaration was eventually granted in May 2023 after the Federal Ministry of Transportation presented a memo to the Federal Executive Council through the then Minister of Transportation, Muazu Sambo, following advocacy by the then Minister of State for Transportation, Prince Ademola Adegoroye.
Olatunde maintained that the declaration secured under Akeredolu laid the groundwork for the realisation of the port project and should not be dismissed.
Addressing the governor’s claim that the declaration was faulty, he said the issue referred to was only a clerical error involving the inclusion of a company’s name in the document as a partner. He noted that the error did not invalidate the licence and was later corrected by the Federal Executive Council.
He also disclosed that international investors, including China Harbor and Dubai Port, had previously indicated interest in developing the project, but delays in obtaining the declaration slowed further progress before Akeredolu fell ill.
The former aide also rejected claims that no previous administration had taken steps toward bitumen exploration in the state before the current government.
According to him, the Akeredolu administration had already secured a licence for bitumen exploration from the Federal Government through the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, then headed by Dr Kayode Fayemi, as part of efforts to diversify the nation’s economy.
Olatunde expressed concern over what he described as repeated attempts to downplay the achievements of the late governor, urging the public to seek accurate information on the legacy projects initiated during Akeredolu’s administration.
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