Six state governments including Ekiti, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Yobe, Nasarawa, and Bayelsa have spent about N160bn on airport projects that opposition politicians and aviation professionals classified as unviable.
Stakeholders say the huge public funds expended on the facilities have amounted to waste. They condemned the state governors and asked Nigerians to hold them responsible for the waste.
However, some industry players advised that the facilities be converted into skill acquisition centres for the benefit of the citizens.
Some called on relevant authorities to probe the money spent on the unviable projects.
Checks by the PUNCH showed that the six states spent over N160bn on their various airport projects, but the facilities have not attracted a considerable number of aircraft for charter or commercial purposes.
Apart from the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos; Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, and Port Harcourt International Airport, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, that generate about 80 per cent of revenues for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, other airports constitute a financial burden to FAAN.
But, despite the challenges facing most of the aerodromes in the country, more state governments have continued to pump scarce resources into the construction of more airports with most designating them as “cargo airports.”
In the last decade, no fewer than 10 state governments have mooted or commenced such projects.
Some of the states include Osun, Ebonyi, Ogun, Benue, Zamfara, Nasarawa, Abia, Ekiti, and Bayelsa. Sadly, most of these projects were never completed, while others were abandoned by their successors in office.
They include Asaba Airport, Ebonyi Airport, Bayelsa Airport, Ogun Cargo Airport, MKO Abiola International Airport, Osun, which is uncompleted, Ekiti Cargo Airport, Anambra Cargo Airport, Abia Airport, Wachakal Airport in Damaturu, and Dutse International Airport in Jigawa.
Others are Lafia Airport in Nasarawa which is uncompleted, Kebbi Airport, Auchi Airport in Edo which is uncompleted, Zamfara Airport, and Gombe Airport.
In 2017, Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State commenced his move to build an airport in the state. Six years later, the governor renewed his zeal for the project, A cargo airport in Umueri, in the Anambra East Local Government Area.
Anambra State is surrounded by airports in Delta, Imo, and Enugu states but the governor embarked on the project.
Though many believed the project was new in the plans of the government and needless, the governor in April 2017 flagged off the airport project.
At the flagging-off ceremony in April 2017, Obiano said that the government wanted to create an airport city in the state with a model that would accommodate two runways, an aviation fuel dump, an airport hotel, an industrial business park, an international convention centre, as well as a facility for aircraft maintenance.
He had initially boasted that the airport with a cost implication of $2b as at when it was conceived would join some of the most advanced airports in the world with a capacity to land any of the most sophisticated vessels known to man.
In 2021, the state government said N6b was spent and not $2b as alleged in some quarters.
Also, the immediate past aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, conveyed the approval for the construction of the Ebonyi airport through correspondence to then Governor David Umahi, now Minister of Works. The letter was signed by the Director of Safety and Technical Policy, Capt Talba Alkali, on behalf of the ministry in 2019.
At the commissioning of the airport, Umahi revealed that he spent over N36bn to build the airport, located in Onueke, Ezza South Local Government Area. But as at the time of filing this report, the airport situation is best described as comatose.
The immediate past Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, expended N16bn public funds on the Akure airport, but the airport has also refused to attract aircraft over its non-viability.
When the governor conceived the idea, it was greeted by criticisms from stakeholders both in the state and beyond but the governor vetoed the cargo airport which is currently not in use.
As of January 2023, the Special Adviser to Governor Biodun Oyebanji on Budget, Economic Planning, and Performance Management, Niyi Adebayo, revealed that N16.6bn had been spent on the yet-to-be-completed facility in Ekiti State.
He explained that the fund was used for perimeter fencing, completion of the runway and taxiway, terminal building, and payment of compensation for the farmers whose farmlands were acquired for the project.
In Jigawa State, ex-governor Sule Lamido, also pumped N4bn to build an airport for the state, one that was commissioned in 2014 by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The airport facility is located less than 100km from Aminu Kano International Airport, making experts describe it as wasteful spending.
Also, in Bayelsa, former Governor Seriake Dickson spent N70bn on the construction of an airport which began in 2012 and was completed in February 2019.
The amount spent on the airport by the governor has been disputed by some stakeholders, among which was the former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomole.
Oshiomhole had stated that the project gulped over N100bn but Dickson insisted that it was done at the rate of N70bn.
Same for Yobe State where the transport commissioner, Abdullahi Kukuwa, had recently told newsmen that the state spent more than N18bn on the unused airport project initiated in 2017.
Like its counterpart, the Nasarawa cargo airport project was initiated in December 2015 during the second tenure of a former Governor Umaru Al-Makura, who said he had the vision to open the state for investment opportunities.
The project was estimated at N10bn and was to ease cargo traffic at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, because Nasarawa is the closest state bordering the FCT.
Aviation professionals speak
The General Secretary of the Aviation Safety Round Table, a group for industry professionals, Olumide Ohunayo, criticised the scale of some airport projects, arguing that while building airports is essential, the funds allocated and the size of these developments are often disproportionate to the immediate needs.
“I am not one of those who criticise the building of an airport. What I criticise is the size of the airport and the funds made available for such developments,” Ohunayo said.
He emphasised that airports typically start as social infrastructure rather than profit-making ventures. “It’s when it begins to develop that they now think about commercialising and maybe giving to private investors.”
Ohunayo further noted the tendency in Nigeria to start airport projects on a large scale without sufficient flight operations to justify the investment. “When you don’t have any flight and you are starting big, you want to operate internationally from the very first day,” he said.
He also pointed out the irony that some of the experts who now criticize these projects were previously involved in advising the government and securing funds for such developments.
On his part, Capt John Okakpu said aside from the Anambra airport, all of the other mentioned airports should be converted to skill acquisition centres or any form of public facility that will be of use to the people.
“Immediately these governors see a colleague that has embarked on such a project even when the fellow did not achieve success, you will see the others doing the same, but my question is, why should a right-thinking human want to replicate failure? In all, it is to steal.
“For instance, before you think of building an airport you should be able to ascertain the passenger traffic. It is not rocket science, you must do it even before any other study.”
Also, the Chief Executive Officer of Centurion Security Limited, Group Captain John Ojikutu (retd.), echoed similar sentiments, questioning the approval process and the lack of a solid business plan behind these airport projects.
“When were they approved by the National Civil Aviation Authority? What was the business plan behind it?” he asked, stressing the importance of having a clear operational base and understanding the potential passenger traffic.
Ojikutu also criticized the focus on building new airports in regions with low travel demand, using Ekiti State as an example. “I told the people in Ekiti not to build an airport, but to build a road to connect Ekiti and Akure. The money they will make on the road is much more than the money you will make from the airport,” he noted.
Opposition mock governors
Although the Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, defended his predecessor for the construction of an airport in the state, opposition politicians said the facility was unnecessary
Oyebanji said all the airport was awaiting was certification from the regulatory agencies to begin commercial operations and promised that the airport would begin operations before the end of the year
“On access to Ekiti State, our airport is practically ready. But in Nigeria, I have learned something about technical readiness and practical readiness. Our airport is ready, but I don’t want to play politics with safety. So we are waiting for the regulatory agencies to give us all the certifications.
“As I speak today, they are in Ekiti now at the airport, trying to look at what we have put on the ground. Once we have the certification from NCAA and FAAN, then access to Ekiti State will be sorted out at least through the air. I don’t want to give a timeframe but before the end of this year, commercial operations will begin at the Ekiti State airport,” he said.
However, the state Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, Alaba Agboola, said the airport was not the priority of Ekiti State for now, describing the money injected into the project as waste.
Agboola said, “Yes, I agree that Ekiti needs an airport, but if we need something, we must at the same time look at the viability of that project. Ekiti receives meagre amounts compared to other states of the Federation. I think we must be able to prioritize our needs.
“If we want to prioritise our needs in Ekiti State, the airport is not one of them because there is an airport in Akure that can be serviceable to us. We have so many needs that require government attention now. I don’t think there is any need to have an airport that is not viable, that is not commercially oriented, that is just tying down our money.
“I can term it to be wasteful spending of Ekiti resources. After the inauguration of the airport in 2022, the airport has been stagnated. An airport that is not usable.
On his part, the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information, Orientation, and Strategy, Ebiowou Koku-Obiyai, defended the construction of the state’s airport but was noncommittal on whether it was viable or not.
Koku-Obiyai told our correspondent that the airport offered an alternative to people in the neighbouring states of Delta and Rivers states.
On whether it is still operating commercially, she said there was an arrangement with an airline, which seems to have been disrupted as of the time of filing this report.
But the candidate of the Labour Party during the last election, Udengs Eradiri, said he was surprised when he heard that the state was trying to procure an airplane, stressing that he was yet to understand why.
“Do they have discipline? They have not shown discipline in the management of the state assets. Are we buying a plane like Rivers State or Ibom Air of Akwa Ibom? The governor is travelling about. He should sit in the state and get the Bayelsa State economy going,” Eradiri stated.
Also, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Energy in Yobe State, Dr Mustapha Geidam, said the government is actively collaborating with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to secure the requisite clearance for the commencement of commercial operations at the state airport. In Ebonyi, a former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Silas Onu, described the airport as ill-conceived, saying it was a white elephant project.
According to him, a right-thinking governor could have opted for massive industrialisation of the state seeing that agriculture was its main economic base.
He added that the project was a huge waste to the state, which had not added any economic value to its citizens.
“As an opening remark, may I indicate that the said airport was built and commissioned as a completed project by the immediate past Governor, David Umahi. The commissioning was widely broadcast with the landing of one aircraft from Air Peace. I doubt if any other plane landed at the airport after the official commission/opening of that airport.
“So I was personally shocked and taken aback when the newly sworn-in Governor Nwifuru began spending billions on the newly unused airport, for what he termed as rehabilitation or was it renovation? Whichever it was, there was absolutely no need for further needless spending on what has now become a white elephant project.”