ADC slams Tinubu over ₦712 billion Lagos airport project

DDM News

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval of ₦712.3 billion for the upgrade of Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport has triggered sharp condemnation across Nigeria’s political spectrum.

Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) gathered that the African Democratic Congress (ADC), in a blistering statement released on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, labelled the decision a “reckless and misplaced priority.”

The ₦712 billion sum was announced last Thursday by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, following a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.

Keyamo described it as the “first major rehabilitation” of the airport’s old terminal since its original construction decades ago.

But critics argue that the project is both unnecessary and poorly timed.

According to ADC, the airport already received a substantial upgrade under former President Muhammadu Buhari, with a new international terminal commissioned in March 2022.

That facility, built over 56,000 square metres and designed to process 14 million passengers annually, features seven jet bridges, advanced cooling systems, children’s play zones, banks, a hotel, and duty-free shops.

The ADC highlighted that despite this capacity, the airport only handled 6.5 million passengers in 2024, less than half of its projected throughput.

They insist that spending such an astronomical amount on an already-functional airport cannot be justified, especially when public universities suffer chronic underfunding and the health sector struggles with decay.

“It is hard to understand how expending ₦712 billion into renovating an airport already upgraded makes fiscal sense,” the party said.

“Meanwhile, millions of Nigerians face poverty, hunger, and insecurity as a result of the government’s failed policies.”

The party’s statement noted that in 2014, four new airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, and Port Harcourt were constructed with $500 million, a figure almost equivalent to the cost now proposed for a single terminal.

ADC further questioned the legal basis of the expenditure, alleging the project was not backed by the National Assembly and does not appear in the approved national budget.

“This amount, nearly one trillion naira, is being approved without appropriation, without scrutiny, and without the people’s consent,” the party charged.

They demanded full disclosure of the project’s cost breakdown, procurement process, and rationale for its urgency.

The opposition party argued that such resources could be better spent building seven world-class teaching hospitals, providing rural electrification to thousands of communities, or funding free basic education across three geopolitical zones for five years.

“Nigerians must reject this frivolous project,” the ADC warned.

“We call for its immediate suspension, an independent audit of the proposed budget, and redirection of the funds to life-impacting projects.”

The party also cautioned that reckless spending amid nationwide hardship would further erode public trust in the Tinubu administration and could spark wider resentment across the country.

They stressed that good governance must prioritise the welfare of citizens over prestige infrastructure that serves only a fraction of the population.

Tinubu’s administration has not issued a direct response to the ADC’s allegations as of press time.

But government insiders suggest the plan is part of a broader initiative to modernise Nigeria’s aviation infrastructure and position Lagos as a regional air transport hub.

However, many Nigerians remain sceptical of large government projects following decades of inflated contracts, abandoned works, and little accountability.

If unchecked, critics warn, this latest airport project may be remembered more for its controversy than its concrete impact.

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