FG earmarked N1.9tn for airport upgrades in two years – Report

FILE: Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo.

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The Federal Executive Council has approved at least N1.92tn for airport equipment, safety systems and infrastructure since President Bola Tinubu convened its inaugural meeting on August 28, 2023.

Sunday PUNCH analysis of council briefings between November 27, 2023 and December 10, 2025, shows that the approvals span narcotics/explosive scanners, terminal maintenance, air traffic systems, asset insurance, and command-and-control centres.

Runway and apron rehabilitations and a sweeping rebuild of Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport Terminal 1—mostly announced by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, are also part of the approvals.

On November 27, 2023, FEC approved N3.23bn for “the supply and installation of customized explosive and narcotic detection screening systems” for the Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu international airports.

Keyamo said the goal was to end repetitive manual searches by multiple agencies.

“We have been inundated with complaints of the harrowing experiences that passengers go through. We thought we should do something like you have the TSA in America,” he explained.

Two weeks later, on December 13, 2023, council okayed N6.33bn—N4.1bn for five-year technical support services at MMIA’s new terminal and N2.23bn for a wide-area multilateration air-traffic management system at Port Harcourt.

Explaining the maintenance scope for the Lagos airport, Keyamo said it covered “the chillers, the air handling units, the passenger boarding bridge, the escalators and the remote boarding lifts”, adding that the original builder, CCECC, would handle first-cycle maintenance.

On March 3, 2025, FEC approved a N1.097bn insurance package for FAAN’s critical assets and personnel to meet ICAO certification norms.

“We cannot continue to run our airports without insurance cover,” Keyamo said, noting that five Nigerian insurers, led by Leadway, would underwrite the risk.

The tranche of approvals rose astronomically on May 12, 2025, when council endorsed N987bn across three memos including N2.44bn to upgrade Abuja’s Terminal B, N2.92bn for airport command-and-control centres, and $654.5m plus N201m for critical navigation aids and spares to be supplied by Indra.

“These approvals aim to modernise facilities and ensure safety by having readily available spare parts,” the minister said.

On July 31, 2025, FEC, via the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, also approved N919.10bn for “massive infrastructural upgrades,” anchored by a full rebuild of MMIA Terminal 1, worth N712.24bn.

Keyamo said the facility would be stripped to the carcass with new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.

Lagos also got a N49.899bn security fence, perimeter road, CCTV and solar floodlights tied to a modern command centre; N44.13bn for Runway 18L/36R plus taxiways with CAT II LED lighting; and N24.27bn to reconstruct the domestic apron in rigid pavement.

The dual runways and taxiway at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport were also billed for rehabilitation for N46.39bn with CAT II lighting while Port Harcourt’s runway and taxiway works will cost N42.14bn.

“This is not the patchwork we used to do before we are going to strip it down to only the carcass,” Keyamo said of Lagos.

On November 6, 2025, the council also approved the concession of Port Harcourt International Airport, biometric identity verification at terminals, 15 fire trucks for the five gateways, tertiary power for airports and NAMA’s 14 VHF remote stations, and a permanent NAMA HQ in Abuja.

“No worker will lose his job as a result of concessions,” Keyamo assured unions, while announcing FAAN property sales were barred at airports for security reasons.

Most recently, on December 10, 2025, FEC extended maintenance at Kano’s Chinese-built terminal and cleared high-end surveillance upgrades: Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems (with surface-movement radar) for Lagos and Abuja; a modular 360-degree ATC tower cabin for eight airports; an aeronautical frequency-spectrum monitor and interference-detection solution; and a nationwide upgrade of VHF radios across nine airports.

It also okayed more biometric e-gates to speed passenger processing.

“It will detect anything moving on the surface of the runway and advise approaching aircraft,” Keyamo said of the new guidance system.

The N1.92tn tally aggregates only sums publicly disclosed at the briefings. It excludes approvals where the Minister did not state figures such as Port Harcourt concession, additional e-gates and future contract variations.

Keyamo said the spending follow years of audit flags on firefighting readiness, night operations, identity security and CNS/ATM resilience, alongside passenger complaints about manual screening and baggage searches.

It also coincides with efforts to extend airport operating hours, curb weather-related delays through CAT II lighting, and align Nigeria with ICAO safety, security and facilitation standards.

With three years of experience, Stephen, The PUNCH correspondent, has been covering Nigeria’s presidency, politics, security, immigration and trafficking in persons

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