The analysis indicted the government of Ekiti, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Yobe, Nasarawa, and Bayelsa in the wastage of public funds.
No fewer than six state governments in Nigeria have wasted N160billion of the public funds to build unviable airport facilities in their respective states.
The analysis indicted the government of Ekiti, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Yobe, Nasarawa, and Bayelsa in the wastage of public funds.
According to PUNCH, concerned Nigerians have described huge resources earmarked for these airports as "wastage amid scarcity."
Some, therefore, called on relevant authorities to probe the money spent on the unviable projects.
Checks showed that the six states spent over N160billion on their various airport projects, but the facilities have not attracted a considerable number of aircraft for charter or commercial purposes.
It is beyond disputation that apart from the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos; Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, and Port Harcourt International Airport, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, that generate about 80 per cent of revenues for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, other airports constitute a financial burden to FAAN.
Despite the issues faced by the majority of the country's aerodromes, additional state governments have continued to invest precious resources in the building of new airports, most of which are designated as "cargo airports."
In the previous decade, no less than ten state administrations have proposed or started such initiatives.
Some of the states are Osun, Ebonyi, Ogun, Benue, Zamfara, Nasarawa, Abia, Ekiti, and Bayelsa. Unfortunately, the majority of these initiatives were never completed, and some were abandoned by their successors in power.
They include Asaba Airport, Ebonyi Airport, Bayelsa Airport, Ogun Cargo Airport, MKO Abiola International Airport in Osun (which is still under construction), Ekiti Cargo Airport, Anambra Cargo Airport, Abia Airport, Wachakal Airport in Damaturu, and Dutse International Airport in Jigawa.
Others are; Lafia Airport in Nasarawa which is uncompleted, Kebbi Airport, Auchi Airport in Edo which is uncompleted, Zamfara Airport, and Gombe Airport.
In 2017, former Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State commenced his move to build an airport in the state. Six years later, the governor renewed his zeal for the project, A cargo airport in Umueri, in the Anambra East Local Government Area.
Anambra State is surrounded by airports in Delta, Imo, and Enugu states but the governor embarked on the project.
Though many believed the project was new in the plans of the government and needless, the governor in April 2017 flagged off the airport project.
At the flagging-off ceremony in April 2017, Obiano said that the government wanted to create an airport city in the state with a model that would accommodate two runways, an aviation fuel dump, an airport hotel, an industrial business park, an international convention centre, as well as a facility for aircraft maintenance.
He had initially boasted that the airport with a cost implication of $2b as at when it was conceived would join some of the most advanced airports in the world with a capacity to land any of the most sophisticated vessels known to man.
In 2021, the state government said N6billion was spent and not $2billion as alleged in some quarters.
Also, the immediate past aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, conveyed the approval for the construction of the Ebonyi airport through correspondence to then Governor David Umahi, now Minister of Works. The letter was signed by the Director of Safety and Technical Policy, Capt Talba Alkali, on behalf of the ministry in 2019.
At the commissioning of the airport, Umahi revealed that he spent over N36bn to build the airport, located in Onueke, Ezza South Local Government Area. But as at the time of filing this report, the airport situation is best described as comatose.
The immediate past Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, expended N16bn public funds on the Akure airport, but the airport has also refused to attract aircraft over its non-viability.
When the governor conceived the idea, it was greeted by criticisms from stakeholders both in the state and beyond but the governor vetoed the cargo airport which is currently not in use.
As of January 2023, the Special Adviser to Governor Biodun Oyebanji on Budget, Economic Planning, and Performance Management, Niyi Adebayo, revealed that N16.6bn had been spent on the yet-to-be-completed facility in Ekiti State.
He explained that the fund was used for perimeter fencing, completion of the runway and taxiway, terminal building, and payment of compensation for the farmers whose farmlands were acquired for the project.
In Jigawa State, ex-governor Sule Lamido, also pumped N4billion to build an airport for the state, one that was commissioned in 2014 by former President Goodluck Jonathan.