How FG Will Fund ₦712bn Lagos Terminal Rebuilding Project – Keyamo

• The approval of ₦712bn by the Federal Government for the project last week has sparked outrage and pushback from various quarters as critics argued that it is not what the country needs at a time when millions of Nigerians groan under all-time high inflation

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, says the rebuilding and remodelling of Terminal One of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos is not a wasteful or needless white elephant project.

He said the reconstruction plans of the terminal by the Federal Government, with ₦712bn, are highly imperative as it needs upgrading to meet world-class standards.

The senior advocate made this known when he appeared on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme.

He stated that the airport terminal has become dilapidated, worn out, and other critical structures and components of the airport are falling apart, adding that the airport in its current state is far below contemporary aviation standards.

“The airport roof is leaking; the place is decrepit and smelly. You see people selling Indomie and all kinds of kiosks erected there. The ceilings are failing, and the carousels are not working because their parts are not in the market anymore,” he said.

The approval of ₦712bn by the Federal Government for the project last week has sparked outrage and pushback from various quarters as critics argued that it is not what the country need at a time when millions of Nigerians groan under all-time high inflation, hunger and skyrocketing living cost, sparked by the twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of the foreign exchange windows by the government.

However, Keyamo argued that the airport upgrade would be funded “through the Renewed Hope Infrastructural Funding. It is not a budgetary expenditure. It is from the special infrastructure fund”.

“This government promised Nigerians major infrastructural upgrades across Nigeria, from the savings we are having now from the subsidy removal and the floating of the naira,” he stated, adding that the project would last 22 months.