Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo and presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), has rejected a claim by Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), that President Bola Tinubu gave the state N50 billion for the Ibadan airport upgrade project.
Makinde spoke on Tuesday during the north-west town hall organised by APM in Katsina as part of electioneering efforts ahead of the 2027 general election.
Speaking during a live appearance on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout on Monday, the minister had said he was not the sole beneficiary of the Tinubu administration among the G5 governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a group which Makinde previously belonged to.
“President Tinubu provided N50 billion to support Oyo Governor Seyi Makinde’s plan to upgrade Oyo Airport into an international airport. So, it’s not correct to say I’m the only G5 governor benefiting from Tinubu’s government,” Wike said.
Makinde, however, described the claim as false, saying the airport project is solely funded by the state government.
“My attention was called to an interview granted yesterday by the minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, where he said that the president gave N50 billion to Oyo state or to me to upgrade the airport in Ibadan to international standards,” Makinde said.
“I want to say that claim is false. The president did not give N50 billion to me or to Oyo state to upgrade the Ibadan airport. The airport upgrade project is being undertaken 100 per cent with the money of Oyo state.”
Makinde flagged off the upgrade of the Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport in September 2024 at an initial cost of N41 billion.
While the domestic terminal upgrade was completed in October 2025, the full international terminal upgrade, including facilities for customs and immigration, is still in progress.
Wike, a member of the PDP, was appointed minister by Tinubu in August 2023 and has been campaigning for the president’s second-term bid.
In the build-up to the 2023 election, both politicians and other members of the G5, including Samuel Ortom, who was then governor of Benue, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, refused to support Atiku Abubakar’s 2023 presidential bid.
They worked against former vice-president, who was the PDP candidate at the time, following Wike’s rejection of the outcome of the party’s primary, which he alleged was rigged in favour of Atiku.
The former governor of Rivers contested the primary alongside Atiku and 12 other aspirants, but came second at the exercise, polling 237 votes against Atiku’s 371.
However, Makinde has since broken ranks with the G5 after falling out with Wike over the FCT minister’s support for Tinubu’s second-term bid.