365NEWS gathered that the Federal Government has pulled out of the foundation-laying ceremony for the proposed Osun State International Airport in Ede, following a request from the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo.
The state governor, Ademola Adeleke, had planned the event for December 13, but the ministry has asked for a postponement until disputes surrounding the project are resolved.
The planned relocation of the airport from Ido-Osun to Ede, Adeleke’s hometown, has stirred controversy and tension.
A state government committee reported that the original site in Ido-Osun did not meet basic aviation requirements, prompting the move.
In October 2017, the state government revived its intention to continue the project, but having entered a huge financial constraint, the Aregbesola administration opted for concession.
Later, before Aregbesola left office, the budgetary allocation for the airport project had swollen to N69bn. about N12bn of Osun indigenes’ funds had been sunk into the construction site.
However, this decision has reignited a longstanding rivalry between the Ido community and Ede, with residents of the former protesting the relocation earlier this week.
The ministry’s request to delay the event came in a letter dated December 6, signed by the permanent secretary, Emmanuel Merinole, which was made available on Tuesday.
The letter reads, “I wish to refer to your letter Ref. No. S.12/19/1/Vol.VI/188 dated 21 November 2024 on the above subject and to respectfully request Your Excellency to suspend the foundation-laying ceremony of the Osun State International Airport until the issues regarding the petitions over the existing airstrip/airport are resolved and to harmonise the state’s efforts with that of the Federal Government.”
The letter also points out that the airstrip is a federal project included in the ministry’s 2024 budget, and the state’s plan to expand it to an international airport must align with federal objectives.
The statement added, “Your Excellency may wish to note that the airstrip is a federal project that is captured in the Ministry’s 2024 Appropriation. We also note that you have made arrangements to expand the airstrip to an international airport. In addition, there is a petition indicating there is an existing airstrip where funds have been expended and the need to use the site for the present airstrip instead of a new site.”
The letter emphasised the need for efficient use of public funds, stating, “The Federal Government is mandated to ensure judicious use of funds in order to curtail wastage of resources. As this Airstrip Project is a collaboration between the state and federal governments, it is important we are in sync before the project takes off.”
The ministry urged the governor to postpone the ceremony.
Merinole stated, “Accordingly, Your Excellency is respectfully requested to reschedule the foundation-laying ceremony of the Osun State Airport pending the resolution of the petitions and selection of a mutually agreed date.”
Attempts to get a response from the Chief Press Secretary to the state government, Olawale Rasheed, were unsuccessful, as he did not respond to calls or messages at the time of this report.
Contacted for further clarification, the media aide to the minister, Tunde Moshood, said the airport is at the moment cancelled following a litany of petitions that greeted the continuation attempt of the government in building the airport.
Moshood said the government is also stopping the construction of the aerodrome over the discovery that the former government in the state got approval to cite the airport at a different location.
His words, “The airport has been cancelled for now because the previous administration got approval to site the airport in a particular location, and there can’t be two approvals at the same time.
“Meanwhile, we can’t deny the fact that we were carried along, but you know, sometimes it may be an oversight. Now there are petitions to that effect.”
Meanwhile, Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has commended the Federal Government for its decision to halt the MKO Abiola International Airport project in the state.
As part of its second year anniversary, the Ademola Adeleke administration revealed that it was relocating the airport from Ido-Osun to Aisu in Ede South local government area of the state.
On Tuesday, the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development announced that it was putting on hold the turning of the sod of the proposed airport in Ede pending the determination of some unresolved issues.
Reacting on Wednesday, the Osun APC through a statement by Kola Olabisi, its Director of Media and Information, said the futile relocation of the airport by Governor Adeleke to his town has been causing a series of crises in Ido-Osun, the host community.
The party also described the relocation efforts as an act of executive recklessness and oppression.
Residents of Ido-Osun community had been protesting and demonstrating against the state government decision.
The statement said, “The unpopular relocation bid of the airport by the governor to his town has always been attracting negative comments from within and outside the shores of this country as no tenable reason could be adduced for the relocation of the airport other than an unfair desire to exhibit a wicked attribute of favouritism and nepotism.
“The relocation saga of the airport had heightened tension which had enveloped the state and proved to be a focal point for the urgent need by any serious government at the centre to have intervened at the right time to douse the tension over either the building or relocation of any airport by this time in the history of the state that can hardly grow its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
“This bungled airport relocation saga has, to a large extent, exposed the administration of Governor Adeleke as deviously lacking in planning but prioritizing the running of government by impulse which has caused the state a lot of havoc since the intervention of the PDP-run government into the political theatre of the state about 26 months ago.”
The party also described the action of the Federal Government as prompt as it will checkmate another visible action of alleged financial recklessness by Governor Adeleke.
