ADC: N712B Airport Renovation Wasteful, Misplaced Priority

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has condemned the Tinubu administration’s plan to spend over ₦712 billion on the renovation of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

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

The full statement read:
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) strongly condemns the outrageous ₦712 billion airport renovation project announced by the Tinubu administration as another brazen act of fiscal recklessness and official insensitivity which further confirms how far this APC government is 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.