Oyo State Governor and Allied Peoples Movement presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, has rejected a claim by Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, that President Bola Tinubu provided ₦50 billion to support the upgrade of the Ibadan airport.
Makinde described the claim as false, insisting that the ongoing transformation of the Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport in Ibadan is being financed entirely by the Oyo State Government. He made the clarification on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, while addressing an APM North-West town hall meeting in Katsina.
The controversy followed comments made by Wike during an appearance on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout on Monday. The FCT minister said Tinubu had provided ₦50 billion to assist Makinde’s plan to upgrade the airport to international standards. Wike referenced the alleged intervention while discussing his relationship with members of the former Peoples Democratic Party G5.
Makinde, however, said he was compelled to respond after his attention was drawn to Wike’s television remarks. He maintained that neither he nor the Oyo State Government received the alleged ₦50 billion from the President for the airport project.
According to the governor, the airport upgrade is being executed with Oyo State funds. His position was also echoed by his media adviser, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, who said the Federal Government’s approval for the project was granted on the understanding that the upgrade would be carried out at no cost to the Federal Government.
The Oyo Government said the project involves extensive improvements to the airport’s infrastructure. These include expansion and strengthening of the runway, improvements to airfield lighting and navigation systems, apron upgrades and enhanced aviation safety installations. The state also said it is funding the dualisation of the Airport Road and construction of a new international terminal.
The airport project itself predates the latest political dispute. Makinde had sought and obtained presidential approval to upgrade the Ibadan airport from a domestic facility to an international airport. The state subsequently commenced the upgrade, with reports putting the initial project cost at about ₦41 billion.
The disagreement is therefore not over whether the Federal Government approved the airport’s upgrade, but over whether that approval was accompanied by a ₦50 billion financial contribution. Makinde’s administration says the presidential approval did not amount to a financial grant and that the state has borne the cost of the project.
Wike’s claim and Makinde’s rebuttal have also taken on political significance because both men were members of the PDP’s G5 group of governors who opposed the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, during the 2023 election. Makinde is now seeking the presidency in 2027 on the APM platform, while Wike remains a member of the Tinubu administration.
For now, the two accounts remain sharply different. Wike says Tinubu provided ₦50 billion to support the Ibadan airport project, while Makinde and the Oyo State Government say no such payment was received and that the project is being funded by the state. No documentary evidence establishing the alleged ₦50 billion transfer was identified in the reports reviewed for this story, leaving the disputed funding claim at the centre of the latest political exchange.
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