Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has said his administration’s efforts to have the Ibadan Airport, Alakia, upgraded to an international airport, have yielded positive results, as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the upgrade of the facility.
He maintained that the upgrade would commence in the next three weeks.
According to him, the project would include the construction of a new terminal, runway, and other structural features. He added that it would be handled by experts and delivered to standard.
Makinde who made this known when he received the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hassan Baba Abubakar, at the executive chamber, Governor’s Office, Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, said his administration had spent the last five years turning around the state’s economy and had identified the need for the upgrade of the Ibadan Airport as being central to its economic expansion agenda.
He added that his government’s resolve to build infrastructure that targets the economic expansion agenda has also seen it investing resources on the 110 kilometres Ibadan Circular Road, stating that the administration would consider the Air Force’s request for land for its post-retirement housing scheme on the Circular Road corridor.
He said, “Since I came into office, this administration has focused on education, agriculture, health and expansion of our economy.
“We have been talking to the Presidency and we got a response from them early this week that the President has graciously approved my request for Ibadan Airport to be upgraded.
“I will be in Abuja soon to get the documents relating to the approval. And within three weeks, we will start the project. We will expand the runway and build a new terminal.”
The governor, who appreciated the chief of staff for his officers’ effort in working with sister security agencies to secure Oyo State, urged that the cordial relationship between the Force and the people of the state be maintained.
Earlier, Air Marshal Abubakar, described the governor as a visionary leader and thanked him for his support of the Air Force.
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