Uncertainty continues to trail the long-delayed second runway project at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, following the allocation of just N10 million for the project in the Federal Government’s 2026 budget proposal.
The allocation, presented to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu, has raised fresh questions about the government’s commitment to delivering the project, whose estimated cost climbed to N532 billion in 2025.
The second runway was first announced in April 2009 under then Minister of Aviation, Babatunde Omotoba, with an estimated cost of N64 billion. The project was designed as a 4.5-kilometre runway, 75 metres wide, and fitted with Category III airfield lighting to accommodate wide-body aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 777.
Under former aviation minister Hadi Sirika, the contract was eventually awarded to the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), with the project cost revised to about N90 billion by 2023.
In 2024, the project became the subject of renewed controversy after the current Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, disclosed that CCECC had proposed a major upward review of the contract to N532 billion. The contractor attributed the increase to inflationary pressures and foreign exchange volatility. Keyamo publicly rejected the proposal, describing the additional N442 billion as excessive.
The N10 million allocation in the 2026 budget has since intensified public scrutiny, with aviation stakeholders questioning whether the project remains a priority.
Responding to concerns on Monday, Keyamo said the budgetary provision does not reflect the actual cost of the runway. According to him, it is a long-standing budgeting practice to allocate token amounts to large projects to keep them active while alternative funding options are explored.
“To keep that budget alive for that cycle, we just allocate an amount to it. It doesn’t mean that the figure reflects the real cost of the project,” the minister said, adding that such decisions are often handled administratively by civil servants.
Keyamo further disclosed that the Federal Government and President Tinubu have agreed to pursue funding for the second runway outside the conventional budget framework.
“We will do the second runway, and we will deliver it. We have gone very far with alternative funding arrangements, which will be revealed soon,” he said.
Efforts to obtain further clarification from the ministry were unsuccessful, as the minister’s Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Tunde Moshood, declined additional comment, noting that budget preparation falls under the purview of civil servants and the ministry’s permanent secretary.
