Ibadan Airport: Makinde-Wike ₦50bn Funding Dispute Raises Transparency Questions
A fresh controversy over who is financing the transformation of the Ibadan airport has placed the funding of one of Oyo State’s flagship infrastructure projects under renewed public scrutiny, following conflicting accounts from Governor Seyi Makinde and Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike.
At the centre of the disagreement is a ₦50 billion figure.
Wike says President Bola Tinubu’s administration provided ₦50 billion in support for the upgrade of the Ibadan airport, but Makinde has categorically rejected the assertion, maintaining that Oyo State is financing the project entirely from its own resources.
The disagreement has consequently moved beyond political rhetoric to a question that could ultimately be resolved by official financial and project records: Was ₦50 billion in federal funding approved, released or received for the airport project?
Makinde addressed the controversy during the Makinde/Daura 2027 Presidential Town Hall meeting in Katsina after Wike made the claim during an appearance on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout.
The Oyo governor said no such payment was made either to him personally or to the Oyo State Government.
According to Makinde, the upgrade of the airport to international standards is being undertaken entirely with Oyo State funds.
His position directly contradicts Wike’s account that the Tinubu administration provided financial assistance for the project.
Wike had raised the issue while discussing the relationship between President Tinubu and members of the former G5 governors, arguing that he was not the only member of the group to have benefited from the current Federal Government.
The former Rivers State governor specifically cited the alleged ₦50 billion support for Makinde’s airport project as an example.
But the Oyo State Government has gone further than Makinde’s initial denial by presenting its own account of the approval process for the project.
The governor’s media aide, Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, said President Tinubu’s minute on Makinde’s proposal for the reconstruction and upgrade of the airport stated that the project was approved at no cost to the Federal Government.
According to the state government, records relating to that approval are available both to the Presidency and Oyo State.
The government also maintained that Wike’s ₦50 billion assertion was not based on a Federal Executive Council decision, presidential funding approval or an official communication relating to aviation infrastructure financing.
The conflicting accounts have now made documentation central to the controversy.
An official clarification showing whether any federal allocation, intervention fund, grant or other financial support was released for the project could settle the disagreement and provide greater transparency over the financing of the airport.
The project itself predates the latest political controversy.
Makinde flagged off the airport upgrade in September 2024, with the initial project cost put at about ₦41 billion.
The domestic terminal component was completed in October 2025, while work on the broader international terminal and associated facilities remains ongoing.
According to the Oyo State Government, the transformation encompasses the expansion and strengthening of the runway, improvements to airfield lighting and navigational systems, apron works and enhanced aviation safety installations.
Other supporting projects include the dualisation of Airport Road and construction of a modern international terminal expected to increase passenger and cargo-handling capacity.
Oyo maintains that these components have been financed by the state government.
Beyond the immediate funding dispute, the controversy carries a significant political dimension ahead of the 2027 general election.
Makinde and Wike were prominent members of the G5 governors who broke ranks with the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential campaign in the run-up to the 2023 election.
Their political paths have since diverged.
Wike currently serves as FCT Minister in the Tinubu administration and has publicly supported the President, while Makinde is now contesting the 2027 presidency on the platform of the Allied Peoples Movement.
Against that background, the airport funding controversy has emerged at a politically sensitive moment.
However, determining the factual position does not necessarily require interpreting the political motivations of either side.
Government financial records should be capable of establishing whether the Federal Government approved or released ₦50 billion for the airport, whether Oyo State received such funds, and under what budgetary or intervention framework any payment was made.
For Oyo taxpayers, those questions are particularly important because the state government has consistently presented the airport transformation as a major investment financed from state resources.
The airport is expected to play a strategic role in expanding Oyo’s economy by improving passenger movement, cargo transportation, agricultural exports and connectivity between Ibadan and international markets.
Consequently, transparency about its funding is relevant not only to the political disagreement between Makinde and Wike but also to public accountability surrounding a multibillion-naira infrastructure project.
For now, two incompatible accounts remain before the public.
Wike says the Tinubu administration provided ₦50 billion towards the airport upgrade.
Makinde says Oyo State received no such money and insists that the project is being financed 100 per cent by his government.
With both positions now firmly on record, documentary clarification from the relevant authorities could provide the clearest answer to the ₦50 billion question hanging over the Ibadan airport upgrade.
