Makinde Rejects Wike’s N50bn Claim Over Ibadan Airport Upgrade

Oyo State Governor and Allied Peoples Movement (APM) presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, has rejected a claim by Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, that President Bola Tinubu provided N50 billion to support the upgrade of the Ibadan Airport.

Makinde dismissed the claim as false, insisting that the ongoing upgrade of the Ladoke Akintola International Airport is being funded entirely by the Oyo State Government. He made the statement on Tuesday, September 22, during an APM North-West town hall meeting in Katsina.

Wike had made the N50 billion claim a day earlier during an appearance on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout. The FCT minister said Tinubu had provided the money to support Makinde’s plan to upgrade the airport to international standards.

Responding to the statement, Makinde said neither he nor the Oyo State Government received the alleged funds from the President.

“My attention was called to an interview granted yesterday by the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, where he said that the President gave N50 billion to Oyo State or to me to upgrade the airport in Ibadan to international standards,” Makinde said.

“I want to say that claim is false. The President did not give N50 billion to me or to Oyo State to upgrade the Ibadan Airport. The airport upgrade project is being undertaken 100 per cent with the money of Oyo State.”

Makinde launched the airport upgrade project in September 2024 at an initial cost of N41 billion. The domestic terminal upgrade was completed in October 2025, while work on the international terminal and related customs and immigration facilities is continuing.

The dispute comes against the backdrop of the changing political relationship between Makinde and Wike ahead of the 2027 general election.

Both politicians were members of the Peoples Democratic Party’s G5 group of governors that opposed the party’s presidential campaign under Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 election. Wike later joined the Tinubu administration as FCT minister, while Makinde has emerged as the APM’s presidential candidate for the 2027 election.

For now, the two politicians have offered conflicting accounts of the alleged N50 billion payment: Wike says the Tinubu administration provided the funds to support the airport project, while Makinde maintains that no such payment was made and that Oyo State is solely financing the upgrade.

This version keeps the central dispute intact while avoiding language that treats either politician’s allegation as independently verified.