Oyo State Governor and 2027 presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Seyi Makinde, has denied receiving ₦50 billion from President Bola Tinubu for the upgrade of the Ladoke Akintola Airport in Ibadan.
Makinde dismissed the claim on Tuesday while speaking at an APM North-West Town Hall meeting in Katsina State, following comments attributed to Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
The governor said the claim that the Federal Government provided ₦50 billion for the airport project was false, insisting that the upgrade was being financed entirely by the Oyo State Government.
Makinde said he was responding to an interview in which Wike reportedly stated that Tinubu had supported Oyo State with the funds for the airport development.
“The President did not give me or Oyo State N50 billion to upgrade the Ibadan Airport. The Ibadan Airport upgrade project is being undertaken 100 per cent with the funds of Oyo State,” Makinde said.
Wike’s comment, as reported by several Nigerian media outlets, had triggered the response from the Oyo governor, who rejected the account of how the airport project was being financed.
Ibadan Traditional Leaders Deny Makinde Endorsement
Meanwhile, a separate controversy involving Makinde’s 2027 presidential bid has emerged in Ibadan, with the leadership of the Association of Mogajis in Ibadanland distancing itself from an alleged endorsement of the governor.
The clarification followed the circulation of a video on social media purportedly showing some individuals identified as Mogajis endorsing Makinde for president and APM governorship candidate Bimbo Adekanmbi for governor of Oyo State.
In a joint statement, President of the Ibadan Mogajis, Mogaji Asimiyu Ariori, and Coordinator of the Ibadan Compound Peace Initiative (ICPI), Mogaji Dr Nurudeen Akinade, said the purported endorsement did not represent the position of the recognised traditional institutions in Ibadanland.
The leaders said Mogajis were expected to remain fathers to all political actors and should not subject their traditional offices to partisan politics.
They also said they aligned themselves with the position of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rasidi Ladoja, whom they described as apolitical.
The clarification followed a meeting of the Association of Mogajis in Ibadanland at the old Olubadan Palace in Ojaba, where the leaders maintained that those who endorsed Makinde and Adekanmbi did so without the mandate of the wider traditional institution.
The development comes as political activities intensify ahead of the 2027 general elections, with Makinde already declared as the APM’s presidential candidate.