Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has rejected the claim by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu provided N50 billion to Oyo State for the upgrade of the Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport, Ibadan.
Makinde made his position known on Tuesday during the North-West Town Hall meeting in Katsina, where he responded to the claim attributed to Wike concerning the financing of the ongoing airport transformation.
According to the governor, the claim that the Federal Government, through President Tinubu, gave Oyo State N50 billion for the project is false. He maintained that the upgrade of the Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport is being fully funded by the Oyo State Government.
The dispute follows Wike's recent statement that President Tinubu supported the Ibadan airport project with N50 billion. Wike reportedly made the claim while discussing the political relationship between Tinubu and members of the former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) G5, including Makinde.
Makinde's position, however, is that the airport upgrade is an Oyo State Government-funded project.
Available records on the project show that Oyo State has been directly involved in financing and executing the airport's redevelopment. In 2020, the Oyo State Government announced plans to raise a N100 billion private bond, with one of its intended uses being the expansion and upgrade of the Ibadan Airport.
The state subsequently formally commenced the latest phase of the airport's transformation in September 2024. At the groundbreaking ceremony, Makinde announced that the project had been awarded to Craneburg Construction at an estimated cost of N41 billion. The upgrade was designed to include improvements to the runway, airfield lighting, terminal facilities and other critical infrastructure required to bring the airport closer to international standards.
The scope of the project has since expanded beyond the runway works. The runway was being extended from 2,400 metres to 3,000 metres and widened from 45 metres to 60 metres to accommodate larger aircraft. Work has also included improvements to airfield lighting, firefighting capabilities, the apron, taxiway and facilities for agencies such as Customs and Immigration.
In February 2025, the Oyo State Government also commenced construction of a new international terminal building designed to handle up to one million passengers annually. The project was presented as another major component of the state's airport upgrade programme.
Further evidence of the state's financial and operational involvement came in October 2025, when the Oyo Government donated four operational vehicles to the airport. The chairman of the airport upgrade committee, Bimbo Adekanmbi, said the state could not depend solely on the Federal Government or the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to provide everything required to make the facility fully operational.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria identifies Ibadan Airport as a federal airport located at Alakia, with a 2,400-metre runway. The ongoing transformation therefore involves cooperation with federal aviation authorities for regulatory and operational purposes, even as the Oyo State Government has taken the lead on the upgrade programme.
Against this background, Makinde's response places the central issue squarely on the question of who is financing the project and whether the alleged N50 billion presidential intervention actually formed part of the funding for the airport upgrade.
The governor's position is unequivocal: the claim that President Tinubu gave Oyo State N50 billion for the Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport upgrade is false, and the project is being fully financed by the Oyo State Government.
The competing claims now put the financing of one of Oyo State's most significant infrastructure projects at the centre of an increasingly public political disagreement between Makinde and Wike.
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