N712bn airport renovation wasteful, misplaced priority — ADC

… upgrade has become necessary — Aviation Minister

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has condemned the Tinubu administration’s plan to spend over N712 billion on the renovation of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

In a statement issued by Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, the party questioned whether the N712bn airport renovation plan and its associated cost had received approval from the National Assembly, describing the expenditure as reckless and insensitive.

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development of Nigeria, Festus Keyamo, in a post on his X handle, however, clarified that money to be spent on the Airport “will not be done by a loan from anywhere, but by the Renewed Hope infrastructure Development Fund, which is one of the gains made from the removal of subsidies”

Keyamo further clarified that the N712bn airport renovation has become necessary.

He said, “Due to years of neglect & because the traffic over time quadrupled beyond its capacity, the building & facilities at Terminal One became totally decrepit.”

The ADC, however, maintained that the total sum earmarked for the airport project by the Tinubu administration was “another brazen act of fiscal recklessness and official insensitivity which further confirms how far this APC government is removed from the reality of the suffering people of Nigeria.”

The statement read: “It is hard to understand how expending N712 billion into renovating an airport that already received significant upgrades in recent years makes fiscal sense in a country where public universities wallow in chronic austerity, where basic medical care, has become a luxury that only the rich can afford, where millions of Nigerians have been thrown into poverty as a result of government’s ill-conceived policies.

“The Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos remains functional and serviceable. What the aviation sector needs is not another gold-plated terminal, but proper maintenance, enhanced efficiency and the expansion of regional airports to boost real connectivity across Nigeria.

“Just for context, the amount of money that is being funnelled into the renovation of one airport, approximately $500 million, is the same total amount that was spent to build four new airports in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt in 2014 via a Chinese loan that is yet to be repaid.

“This same Murtala Muhammed Airport had a new international terminal that was commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari in March 2022.

“According to media reports at the time, the facility was built on a landmass of approximately 56,000 square metres, with 66 check-in counters and can process 14 million passengers annually. It was said to have been equipped with “censored conveyor belt, seven jet bridges, 10 ultra-modern cooling systems, heat extraction in the baggage hall, ample space for duty-free shops and banks, recreational areas for children, 22-room hotel for stop-overs, among others.”

“It is important to note that although this airport was designed to process 14 million passengers in a year, available reports indicate that the airport handled only 6.5 million passengers in 2024, less than half of its capacity.

“We therefore wonder if it is this same airport that is now scheduled for renovation or another one. The inescapable conclusion is either that the previous APC government had lied to Nigerians about what it did with the Lagos Airport, or the current government is about to spend such a huge amount of money on a project that already exists.

“Perhaps even more troubling is the fact that this massive expenditure, approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on July 31, 2025, has not received any backing from the National Assembly, and it is not in any of the approved budgets. Is this now how the government spends close to a trillion naira, without appropriation, without scrutiny, and without the consent of the Nigerian people through their elected representatives? We demand to know: under what constitutional provision is this money being spent?

“How did we get here, that the government of Nigeria, even in the face of extant accountability laws, is able to approve expenditure of this magnitude with no public breakdown of costs, no transparent procurement process, and no national debate? many.

“Let us be clear, N712 billion could instead deliver transformative impact by building over seven fully equipped teaching hospitals, funding free basic education across three geopolitical zones for five years, providing rural electrification to thousands of communities, or rehabilitating thousands of kilometres of federal roads and bridges.

“The ADC calls on all Nigerians to reject this frivolous project. We, therefore, demand its immediate suspension, a full independent audit of the proposed budget, and a redirection of funds toward projects that would directly improve the lives of ordinary citizens, which should be the priority of any government.

“We warn that continued wasteful spending amid widespread hunger, economic hardship, and rising insecurity will only continue to widen the trust deficit between the people and the government. A government that has struggled to justify its need for loans cannot indulge in wasteful spending such as this.
‘Enough is enough. Let Nigeria work for the many, not just the privileged few.”

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