Oyo State Governor and 2027 presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement, Seyi Makinde, has rejected claims by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike that the Federal Government provided N50bn for the upgrade of the Ibadan International Airport.

Wike had made the claim while appearing on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout on Monday, saying the Bola Tinubu administration supported the Oyo State Government with the funds for the airport project.

But speaking at the Makinde/Daura 2027 presidential town hall meeting in Katsina on Tuesday, Makinde dismissed the claim as false, insisting that the project was being funded entirely by the Oyo State Government.

“The President did not give Oyo State N50bn or me to upgrade the Ibadan Airport. The Ibadan Airport upgrade project is being undertaken 100 per cent with the funds of Oyo State,” Makinde said.

The governor’s media aide, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, also described Wike’s claim as “false, reckless and misleading,” insisting that there was no N50bn Federal Government approval for the project.

Olanrewaju said President Tinubu’s approval of the airport upgrade proposal was explicitly granted “at no cost to the Federal Government.”

He said the state government had solely funded major components of the project, including runway expansion and strengthening, airfield lighting and navigation systems, apron improvements, Airport Road dualisation, aviation safety installations and the ongoing construction of an international terminal.

The aide challenged Wike to produce documentary evidence backing his claim, saying the alleged N50bn funding did not emanate from any Federal Executive Council decision, presidential approval or statutory aviation funding process.

He accused the minister of spreading misinformation for political purposes and said the Oyo Government would continue to challenge any claim that misrepresented the financing of the airport project.