FG defends N712bn for Lagos Airport renovation

Monday, August 4, 2025 - The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has explained that the Federal Government’s decision to spend N712 billion on the renovation of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos is driven by the urgent need to replace decaying infrastructure, expand capacity, and bring the nation’s busiest airport in line with modern global standards.

Keyamo gave this explanation in a statement issued on Sunday, following the Federal Executive Council’s recent approval of the transformation project.

At FEC meeting on Monday, the Federal Government approved airport projects worth N919.10 billion in total.

He described the package as “massive infrastructural upgrades” across key gateways, especially the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

He explained that MMIA, International Terminal 1 will be stripped to the carcass and fully rebuilt, with all mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems replaced—an award to CCECC that also covers Terminal 2 works (apron expansion, access roads, bridges and associated infrastructure).

However, justifying the huge amounts earmarked for these projects, the minister explained, “To further enunciate our plans for the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos, let me further clarify the approval we secured from the Federal Executive Council meeting last week.

“There are two international terminals in Lagos. Terminal One is that old building directly facing the long stretch of road leading to the airport, built and commissioned in 1979 by the Obasanjo-led military regime.

It has two wings known as Wing D and Wing E. Terminal Two is the new building on the righthand side as you drive into the airport, started by President Jonathan’s government with a Chinese loan, completed during President Buhari’s government (with the loan), and made operational during President Tinubu’s first one month in office,” the statement partly reads.

Keyamo noted that Terminal One has fallen into a state of disrepair, becoming unfit for modern aviation demands.

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

We have been engaged in some patch jobs over the years just to make it a bit presentable. “Now, shorn of all the rhetoric, what we simply want to do is to totally strip down that building, including the entire roof (leaving only the carcass), then re-design/reconfigure it and build a brand-new airport for the nation to meet modern, international standards that can also cater for the increased traffic. Both Wings D and E would be affected.”

On Terminal Two, he revealed plans for expansion and correction of long-standing design flaws that inconvenience travellers.

“As for the new Terminal (Two), we got approval to expand the building and the apron (where aircraft park for boarding and disembarkation) in order to accommodate more aircraft, including wide-body aircraft.

That is not all; we are constructing two new independent ring roads in and out of the airport (one for departure and one for arrival) and a bridge that will take travellers directly to the upper floor of Terminal Two departure lounge, instead of lifting our luggage through the escalators when we are departing.

It is a design error we intend to correct”, Keyamo explained. He also highlighted the integration of advanced technology into the redesigned airport, aimed at bringing it up to global standards.

The plan by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to spend over N712 billion on the renovation of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, has been described as wasteful, reckless, insensitive and a misplaced priority.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC), which stated this on Sunday, not only condemned the move, but questioned whether if the renovation plan and its associated cost had received approval from the National Assembly.

The party said that 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.

ADC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said that the plan further confirms how far APC government is removed from the reality of the suffering people of Nigeria.

The party said 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.

ADC warned 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. The party said: “The African Democratic Congress (ADC) strongly condemns the outrageous N712 billion airport renovation project announced by the Tinubu administration as 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.

“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.”

The party added that “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 said facility was built on a landmass of approximately 56,000 square metres, with 66 check-in counters and has the capacity to 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 indicates 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 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?”

ADC asked how did the country 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? “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 kilometers of federal roads and bridges,” the party said.

The ADC called on all Nigerians to reject this frivolous project, adding, “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.”