N712bn Lagos Airport Renovation Misplaced Priority — ADC

Opposition party, African Democratic Congress (ADC) has described the plan by the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to spend over ₦712 billion on the renovation of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos as wasteful and a misplaced priority.

ADC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, in a statement, questioned whether the renovation plan and its associated cost had received approval from the National Assembly, describing the expenditure as reckless and insensitive.

Condemning the ₦712 billion airport renovation project as outrageous, ADC alleged that it is another brazen act of fiscal recklessness and official insensitivity which confirmed how far the All Progressives Congress (APC) government was removed from the reality of the suffering people of Nigeria.

“It is hard to understand how expending ₦712 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 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.”

The ADC said although this airport was designed to process 14 million passengers in a year, available reports indicated 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?” The ADC asked.

The party asked, “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?

“Let us be clear, ₦712 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,” Abdullahi said.

The ADC however called on all Nigerians to reject the “frivolous” project, demanding its immediate suspension, 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,” the party said.