Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, approved over N9.4 billion between January and September 2024 for the construction of an airport in the state, a copy of the state budget performance report obtained by SaharaReporters has revealed.
The report was posted on the state government website, https://ekitistate.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/BPR_Q3.pdf.
The document shows that the Oyebanji’s administration in the last 9 months spent N9,438,043,593.84 on the “Construction of Airport” instead of the N1,410,000,000.00 appropriated and approved in the 2024 budget by the Ekiti State House of Assembly.
This suggests that N8,028,043,593.84 was spent above the budget ceiling on airport construction.
A further check revealed that N1,317,706,518.84 was spent between July and September 2025 on the “Construction of Airport,” which forms part of the amount spent in nine months.
This again brings to light how former Ekiti State Governor, Olukayode Fayemi, in 2022 inaugurated an uncompleted Ekiti Cargo Airport along Ado-Ijan Road, Ado-Ekiti, the state capital amid fanfare.
Fayemi had described the airport as a dream come true for Ekiti people, saying the facility would boost the socio-economic growth and development of the state.
However, SaharaReporters exclusively reported that several projects had not been completed at the airport during the inauguration.
The Air Traffic Control (ATC), which is one of the most important facilities in an airport, had also yet to be completed.
Two years after the inauguration, SaharaReporters reported that the airport had yet to be in operation.
Following the reports, Fayemi initiated a lawsuit against SaharaReporters and its publisher, Omoyele Sowore for reporting about the shoddy job done by his administration at the airport.
Sowore, the convener of #RevolutionNow, however, filed a defence statement in response to the libel suit brought by Fayemi against him and Sahara Reporters Limited.
The defence statement was filed at a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja.
In a 47-paragraph defendants’ joint statement of defence in suit No: FCT/HC/CV 2062/2021 between Fayemi as Claimant and Mr. Omoyele Sowore (founder Chairman & Director Sahara Reporters Limited, Publishers of Sahara Reporters) and Sahara Reporters Limited as 1st and 2nd Defendants, Sowore tells the court that the Claimant is a thief who has no reputation.
In the statement of defence, Sowore asks the court to dismiss the suit with substantial costs, arguing that Fayemi has no reputation to protect. Sowore’s counsel, Tope Temokun Esq., submitted the statement on June 10, 2024, asserting that contrary to Fayemi’s claims of piety and incorruptibility, the people of Ekiti State and Nigeria have a different perception of him.
The defendants note that the cargo airport in Ado-Ekiti, inaugurated on October 15, 2022, was not fully completed, despite claims by the claimant, John Olukayode Fayemi, that it was a world-class facility.
Fayemi had tweeted that the airport could accommodate large aircraft and had a terminal building capable of handling both local and international travelers.
However, the defendants argue that the airport remains unfinished, with no other aircraft landing there since its inauguration.
They also note that the Ekiti State Government disclosed in its 2023 budget presentation that over N16.5 billion had been spent on the airport’s construction, but the control tower, passenger terminal, and runway remain incomplete.
The defendants question the claimant’s assertions about the airport’s capabilities and suggest that the inauguration was misleading.
The 2024 budget performance report also revealed that N2,527,445,130 was used to purchase four tractors under the FADAMA agricultural project as against the N650,000,000 approved by the state lawmakers. However, checks showed that an average price of a tractor in the Nigeria is N60 million.
Calls put across to Yinka Oyebode, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor to explain why the government spent such an amount of money on four tractors were not answered nor returned.
A text message sent to his mobile line had yet to be replied to as at the time of this report.
Sahara Reporters
