Confusion continues to surround the construction of the second runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, with uncertainty over the actualisation of the project. Discussions around the project peaked in 2025 when its estimated cost reached N532bn.

However, the seriousness of the government’s commitment came under scrutiny after the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, under Minister Festus Keyamo, allocated just N10m for the project in the 2026 budget proposal presented to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu.

The second runway project was first unveiled in April 2009 at an estimated cost of N64bn under the then Minister of Aviation, Babatunde Omotoba. It was designed as a 4.5-kilometre runway capable of accommodating the world’s largest passenger aircraft, including the Airbus A380 and Boeing 777. The runway was planned to be 75 metres wide and equipped with Category III airfield lighting.

Years later, under former Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika, the N64bn contract was eventually signed with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC). By 2023, the project’s estimated cost had risen to N90bn.

In 2024, the cost escalated further, with the current aviation minister, Keyamo, announcing that CCECC had proposed a contract increase to N532bn, citing inflation and foreign exchange volatility. Keyamo opposed the upward review, which would have added N442bn to the contract, describing the increase as excessive.

However, when asked about the budget allocation on Monday, Keyamo explained that the figures in the 2026 budget do not reflect the actual cost of projects. He said it is common practice to allocate token amounts for large projects to keep them active in the budget cycle while alternative funding arrangements are pursued.

He stated: “I have not looked at it, but what they do in the budgetary sequence is that even if a project is N40bn, I’m not saying it is N40bn, I am just giving an example, and we don’t have the money to do it yet. To keep that budget alive for that cycle, we just allocate an amount to it. It doesn’t mean that the money you see there is a reflection of the actual cost. The civil servants do it that way.”

Keyamo added that he and President Tinubu had agreed to pursue alternative funding options outside the budgetary framework for the second runway.

“The Federal Government has resolved on an alternative source of income, and we have gone very far with that. We will reveal it very soon. We will do the second runway; we will deliver it,” he said.

Keyamo’s Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Tunde Moshood, declined to comment further on the development, noting that budget preparation is overseen by civil servants and the permanent secretary. (The PUNCH)

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