Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has publicly accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, of lying over claims that President Bola Tinubu’s administration provided N50 billion to Oyo State for the upgrade of the Ibadan International Airport, setting off a fresh political confrontation between two key figures in the ruling party’s orbit.
Makinde, who is the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement, made the rebuttal on Tuesday during a North West town hall meeting in Katsina, where he addressed supporters as part of his 2027 presidential campaign. “My attention was called to Wike’s interview yesterday, where he said President Tinubu gave N50 billion to Oyo State to upgrade the airport to an international airport,” Makinde said. “It’s all a lie. I did not receive any money for the airport upgrade. The upgrade of the airport is being undertaken 100 per cent from the Oyo State Government’s pocket.” The governor did not mince words, describing the claim as false and insisting that no such federal allocation had ever been made to his state. “The President did not give me or Oyo State N50 billion to upgrade the Ibadan Airport,” he stated. “The Ibadan Airport upgrade project is being undertaken 100 per cent with the funds of Oyo State.”
The dispute erupted after Wike appeared on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout programme on Monday, where he claimed that the President had extended financial support to Makinde, including a N50 billion intervention for the airport project. Wike framed the support as part of a broader pattern of compensation to the former G5 governors who had backed Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election, suggesting that Makinde had benefited significantly from the administration’s goodwill. The minister’s remarks were widely interpreted as an attempt to highlight the President’s magnanimity toward political allies, but they immediately drew a sharp response from the Oyo State Government.
In a separate statement issued through the state government, Oyo described Wike’s claim as “untrue and unfortunate,” saying the minister should have verified the facts before making such a public assertion. The government said the President’s approval for the airport project was expressly granted on the condition that it would be undertaken at no cost to the Federal Government, and that the records of the approval are available to both the Presidency and the Oyo State Government. “Let it be stated unambiguously, the Federal Government did not give Oyo State N50 billion for the Ibadan Airport upgrade,” the statement read. “Any suggestion to the contrary is a fabrication and a lie from the pit of hell.”
The Oyo government detailed the scope of the airport transformation it says it has fully funded, including the expansion and strengthening of the runway, improvement of airfield lighting and navigational systems, apron upgrades, enhanced aviation safety installations, and the provision of supporting infrastructure. It also cited the dualisation of the Airport Road and the ongoing construction of a modern international terminal designed to significantly increase passenger and cargo capacity. According to the government, all components of the upgrade have been financed entirely by the Oyo State Government, without any federal allocation.
The controversy comes amid heightened political tension ahead of the 2027 general elections, scheduled for January 16. Makinde is seeking the presidency on the APM platform, with former Director-General of the Department of State Services Lawal Daura as his running mate, while Wike remains a minister in the Tinubu administration and has been actively building a cross-party Rainbow Coalition in support of the President’s re-election. The exchange between the two men adds another layer of complexity to the internal dynamics of the ruling party’s support base, where competing ambitions and loyalties are increasingly difficult to reconcile.
For the people of Oyo State, the dispute raises questions about the true source of funding for a flagship project that has been presented as a centrepiece of the state’s infrastructure agenda. Makinde has consistently positioned the Ibadan airport upgrade as a demonstration of his administration’s commitment to economic development, and his insistence that the project was funded entirely by the state is central to that narrative. Wike’s claim, if true, would fundamentally alter that narrative; Makinde’s denial, if accurate, would call into question the minister’s credibility on matters of federal-state financial relations.
The coming days will determine whether Wike responds to Makinde’s accusation, and whether the Presidency intervenes to clarify the record. For now, the governor has placed his position on the record in unambiguous terms, and the Oyo State Government has backed him with a detailed rebuttal. What is certain is that the N50 billion question has become the latest flashpoint in a political season already defined by bitter exchanges and competing claims, and both men have staked their credibility on the outcome.
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