IBADAN — Oyo State Governor and Allied Peoples Movement presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, has rejected a claim by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, that President Bola Tinubu provided ₦50 billion to support the ongoing upgrade of the Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport in Ibadan.
Makinde described the claim as false, insisting that the airport upgrade project is being financed entirely by the Oyo State Government.
The governor made the clarification on Tuesday while speaking at the North-West town hall meeting organised by the Allied Peoples Movement in Katsina, as part of activities ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Makinde was responding to comments made by Wike during a live appearance on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout on Monday.
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Wike had claimed that President Tinubu provided ₦50 billion to support Makinde’s plan to upgrade the Ibadan airport to international standards.
According to Wike, the alleged intervention demonstrated that he was not the only member of the former G5 governors benefiting from the Tinubu administration.
But Makinde strongly disputed the claim.
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The Oyo governor said:
“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.
“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.”
The Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport upgrade was formally flagged off by Governor Makinde in September 2024 at an initial estimated cost of ₦41 billion.
The domestic terminal upgrade was completed in October 2025, while work continues on the international terminal, including facilities required for customs and immigration operations.
The dispute over the airport funding has added another layer to the increasingly strained political relationship between Makinde and Wike.
Both politicians were members of the G5 governors, a group of five Peoples Democratic Party governors who opposed the presidential ambition of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar during the 2023 presidential election.
The other members of the group were then-Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, former Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, and former Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.
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Wike had also contested the PDP presidential primary against Atiku and 12 other aspirants, securing 237 votes, compared with Atiku’s 371 votes.
Following the 2023 election, however, political differences between Makinde and Wike have deepened, particularly over Wike’s continued support for President Tinubu and the President’s bid for a second term in 2027.
Makinde has since moved away from the former G5 alignment and is now the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement for the 2027 election.
The latest exchange between the two political figures has therefore placed the funding of the Ibadan Airport project at the centre of a fresh political dispute, with Makinde maintaining that Oyo State, rather than the Federal Government, is responsible for financing the upgrade.
