HURIWA Raises Posers Over Airport Renovation Contract

By Ayodele Oni

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has described as wasteful approval by the Federal Executive Council, (FEC),  the sum of N712 billion for the upgrade of Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos.

It expressed grave concern over the FEC  recent approval of a staggering ₦712 billion for the rehabilitation, upgrade, and modernisation of Terminal One of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

The association described the project as fiscally reckless, opaque in process, and potentially tied to ulterior political motives ahead of the 2027 general elections.

In a statement issued to the press by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA faulted the cost, the procedure of contract award, and the absence of public accountability in the entire transaction.

The rights group said that in the midst of Nigeria’s worsening economic situation—including skyrocketing inflation, rising debt obligations, and mass poverty—such a monumental expenditure on a single airport terminal is not only questionable but insensitive.

The approval, announced by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, involves stripping Terminal One down to its core structure and rebuilding it with new mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems.

The project was awarded to China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and will be executed over 22 months, funded entirely through the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund.

HURIWA strongly questioned how a partial rehabilitation of an existing airport terminal could justify a price tag of over $500 million, especially when benchmarked against international examples where entirely new and far larger airports have been constructed for relatively similar or even lesser amounts.

The group cited the ongoing construction of the Techo International Airport in Cambodia, which is scheduled for completion in September 2025 at a cost of $1.5 billion.

“The Cambodian airport is being built entirely from scratch across 2,600 hectares, includes three runways, a cargo terminal, and will have capacity for over 50 million passengers annually.

“It represents a scale of development that far exceeds what is planned for Terminal One in Lagos, yet its cost is just double that of the Nigerian terminal refurbishment.

“In contrast, the MMIA terminal, already decades old and the subject of repeated refurbishments under the administrations of Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, continues to attract billions in public funding without any comprehensive audit of past expenditures or outcomes.

“Under President Buhari, the federal government reportedly secured a loan of ₦106 billion to renovate the same terminal,”

HURIWA questioned why, in less than a decade, the same facility now requires another ₦712 billion for what the government claims is a “complete overhaul.”

The group stated that this pattern of repeated, high-value spending on the same infrastructure raises serious questions about the integrity of Nigeria’s project evaluation and procurement systems.

HURIWA warned that the award of such a contract, without a publicly advertised and competitive bidding process, undermines the Public Procurement Act and makes a mockery of the federal government’s pledge to promote transparency and fiscal discipline.

The association called on the National Assembly to urgently summon the Minister of Aviation and other relevant stakeholders for a public hearing on the project, with a view to suspending it until a full breakdown of the proposed expenditure, scope of work, and selection process is made public.

According to HURIWA, there is growing suspicion that such massive infrastructure budgets are part of a larger agenda to raise funds for political campaigns ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The group alleged that the hurried approvals and inflated project costs across various ministries may be indicative of a desperate bid by political actors to secure financial war chests.