Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticised the Federal Government’s decision to approve ₦712.3 billion for airport renovation, describing it as a gross misplacement of priorities at a time when millions of Nigerians are battling severe hunger and hardship.
In a statement posted on his X handle on Wednesday, Obi said it was alarming that the government could commit such a staggering amount to physical infrastructure while over 34 million citizens face acute food insecurity.
“It is profoundly troubling that at a time when millions of Nigerians are battling hunger and hardship, the government chooses to spend ₦712 billion—not to feed the people or lift them out of poverty—but to renovate an airport,” Obi wrote.
His remarks followed a July warning from the United Nations, published by local media on August 1, 2025, which revealed that more than 34 million Nigerians are at risk of severe hunger. The same day, the Federal Government announced the airport renovation project, prompting backlash from civil society groups and the wider public.
Obi questioned the timing and justification of the expenditure, recalling that the country had already taken a $500 million loan in 2013 to upgrade five international airports. “What justifies spending even more on just one airport a decade later, when the nation is in economic distress and social crisis?” he asked.
“Development is about choices,” he added. “Hunger, health, education and security should come before terminals and tarmacs. A government that builds grandiose infrastructure while its people starve is not building a nation—it is betraying one.”
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