ABUJA – The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised the Federal Government’s plan to spend ₦712 billion on renovating the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, describing it as a glaring example of fiscal recklessness and official insensitivity.
The party questioned the justification for such a costly project, arguing that the funds would be better directed towards essential sectors such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
In a statement signed by Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, the party called for the immediate suspension of the project, an independent audit of the proposed budget, and the redirection of the funds to initiatives that would directly benefit ordinary Nigerians.
The ADC expressed alarm over the lack of transparency and due process, noting that the expenditure was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on 31 July 2025 without National Assembly approval or inclusion in the national budget.
“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, and where millions of Nigerians have been thrown into poverty as a result of government’s ill-conceived policies,” Abdullahi stated.
The party noted that the Murtala Muhammed International Airport remains fully functional and had a new terminal commissioned by former President Muhammadu Buhari in March 2022.
It questioned whether the current plan involves the same facility, highlighting that the airport handled only 6.5 million passengers in 2024, less than half its 14 million 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,” Abdullahi added.
The ADC also pointed out that the ₦712 billion figure is equivalent to the total cost of building four new airports in Abuja, Lagos, Kano, and Port Harcourt in 2014, funded by a Chinese loan that has yet to be repaid. This, the party argued, underscores how inflated and unnecessary the new project is.
“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?
“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 kilometres of federal roads and bridges.
“Enough is enough. Let Nigeria work for the many, not just the privileged few,” the ADC declared.
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