FG Takes Bold Step: Why Abuja Airport’s 2nd Runway Contract Was Revoked, Keyamo Reveals

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, revealed on Wednesday that the contract for the second runway at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, was revoked due to exorbitant price variation demands by the contractor originally awarded the project.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Keyamo disclosed that the initial contract was awarded for ₦90 billion, but the contractor later requested a staggering variation of ₦532 billion, which he described as fraudulent.

While addressing the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Aviation during the defense of his Ministry’s 2025 budget, Keyamo explained that this development necessitated the cancellation of the contract to allow for fresh bidding.

He stated:
“After a ₦3.4 billion consultancy fee was paid to the contractor in May 2023, an additional ₦90 billion was released for the project, of which ₦30 billion was disbursed. Following this, the contractor collaborated with the Federal Capital Territory Administration to compensate settlers on the affected land but abandoned the site soon after.

“Efforts to bring the contractor back to work failed due to their insistence on a contract variation of ₦532 billion, up from the original ₦90 billion. To us, this demand is nothing short of fraud. Consequently, we had no option but to terminate the contract and initiate a new bidding process.”

Defunct Nigeria Airways Pensioners
When queried by the committee about the exclusion of the ₦36 billion owed to pensioners of the defunct Nigeria Airways from the Ministry’s 2025 budget, Keyamo clarified that the payment responsibility had been transferred to the Ministry of Finance, as it does not fall under capital projects.