LP faction rejects Lagos airport renovation, accuses FG of misusing subsidy funds

A faction of the Labour Party (LP) has berated the federal government’s plan to spend N712 billion on the renovation of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

On August 1, Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation, said the Lagos airport rehabilitation would cost N712.25 billion.

The aviation minister said this would be the first major rehabilitation of the airport’s old terminal since its construction.

In a statement issued on Monday, Ken Asogwa, spokesperson for Nenadi Usman, interim national chairperson of the party, described the project as “outrageous” and “insensitive” given the hardship facing Nigerians.

Usman said it was alarming that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government is embarking on a $475 million renovation while “63 percent of Nigerians — about 133 million people — are classified as multidimensionally poor by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)”.

“This is not just wicked; it is satanic and speaks to a gross disregard for the plight of the masses,” the statement reads.

“Even more appalling is the minister’s disclosure that the so‑called Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, from which this project will be financed, is made up of savings from the removal of fuel subsidy — the only meaningful benefit the average Nigerian had derived from our God‑given fossil fuel resources.

“To withdraw this lifeline from the poor only to channel the proceeds into a luxury terminal accessible exclusively to the rich is a new low in governmental wickedness.”

Nenadi said the project should have been executed under a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement since airport terminals are commercially viable.

“Around the world, terminal buildings are revenue‑generating investments,” the statement reads.

“Why not invite private capital, especially when the return on investment is self‑sustaining, instead of squandering subsidy savings on an elitist project that benefits a fraction of the population?”

The factional chair said the government’s priorities are detached from the reality of most Nigerians who can no longer afford food, transportation, and healthcare.

Usman recalled that the government recently approved the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project at an estimated cost of ₦15 trillion, describing it as another “misplaced priority.”

She said comparable projects across Africa, Asia, and Europe show that entire airports have been built for less than the $475 million budgeted for the Lagos airport renovation.

“How then does this government justify blowing such a colossal amount of public funds on a mere renovation?” she asked.

At the weekend, the aviation minister said the rehabilitation will be funded through the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund — one of the gains from fuel subsidy removal, not loans.