ADC Lampoons FG Over Approval N712bn For Lagos Airport Renovation
African Democratic Congress, ADC, has lampooned the Federal Government’s proposal to spend over ₦712 billion on the renovation of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
African Democratic Congress, ADC, has lampooned the Federal Government’s proposal to spend over ₦712 billion on the renovation of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
National Publicity Secretary of ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi spoke late Sunday, describing the expenditure as not only extravagant, but a misplaced priority.
Abdullahi, questioned whether the renovation plan and its associated cost had received approval from the National Assembly, noting that the expenditure was reckless and insensitive.
The party further noted that the government could instead, use the ₦712 billion for the transformation of three geopolitical zones for five years, by building over seven fully equipped teaching hospitals; funding free basic education; providing rural electrification to thousands of communities, or rehabilitating thousands of kilometers of federal roads and bridges.
“It is hard to understand how expending N712bn 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.
“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 $500m, 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 the ADC, “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 budget. 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?”
President Tinubu had approved N712.3 billion for the upgrade of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, under the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund.
Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, announced the approval after the Federal Executive Council meeting held in Abuja on Thursday, adding that it was the first major rehabilitation of the airport’s old terminal since its construction.
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