The Nigerian Federal Authorities has spent N8.73 billion on energy infrastructure on the airport in 2024, primarily to make sure secure electrical energy provide on the new worldwide terminal of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Worldwide Airport, Abuja.
This spending was highlighted in a report by BudgIT’s transparency platform, GovSpend, which was accessed by The PUNCH on Wednesday.
In keeping with the report, J. Marine Logistics Ltd was paid massive sums of cash for vitality provides from exterior sources. These included 5.67 billion naira for energy provides between March and September 2023, 2.19 billion naira on Might 9, 2024 for companies overlaying the interval from October to November 2023 and a part of December 2023, and a further quantity of 874.42 million naira on the identical day as a partial cost to the Authority throughout that interval. Interval.
The Nnamdi Azikiwe Worldwide Airport has lengthy suffered from energy outages, resulting in operational disruptions and passenger dissatisfaction. Prior to now, energy outages have affected essential companies akin to airport lighting, baggage dealing with methods, and safety scanning tools. These challenges usually raised security considerations, particularly throughout night time operations and peak journey durations.
Aviation skilled, Olumide Odunayo, in a cellphone dialog with our correspondent, praised authorities’s efforts to deal with these points however harassed the necessity for a extra sustainable method.
“The airport ought to construct another supply of vitality, maybe utilizing a photo voltaic system or a windmill,” he stated.
Odunayo additionally highlighted the excessive prices related to present vitality preparations, which depend on electrical energy distribution networks and diesel-powered mills.
“The present provide from the electrical energy distribution community may be very costly, affecting not solely the airport but additionally the companies inside it. This in flip will increase the price of companies handed on to passengers,” he defined.
He additionally harassed the inefficiency of counting on diesel-powered mills, saying: “Energy outages pressure us to depend on mills that eat massive quantities of diesel, which is as costly as it’s unsustainable. Airports ought to put money into their very own impartial capability or discover different renewable sources.
Odunayo urged the federal government to change to renewable vitality sources akin to photo voltaic or wind vitality, noting that this is able to not solely scale back prices, but additionally present a extra dependable and environmentally pleasant vitality provide.
“It might be higher to work on discovering cost-effective and environmentally pleasant alternate options. This method is not going to solely guarantee reliability however can even considerably scale back long-term bills,” he added.
Along with the 2024 investments, the federal authorities allotted N105.95 billion to the aviation trade within the 2025 funds, representing a big improve from the N63.32 billion allotted the earlier 12 months.
Among the many proposed expenditures, N5 billion is earmarked for energy and vitality enhancements at airports in Lagos, Abuja and different areas.
The federal government acknowledged that the venture is “ongoing.” One other 5 billion naira has been allotted for the event of aviation services in Abuja, which the Ministry of Aviation described as “ongoing” as properly.
These investments are geared toward bettering passenger experiences, enhancing operational effectivity, and establishing Nigeria’s airports as worldwide hubs. The brand new terminal at Abuja Airport, which was commissioned in December 2018, is designed to deal with elevated passenger site visitors and supply state-of-the-art services.
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Improvement Festus Keyamo stated in Might 2024 that the federal authorities was spending one billion naira month-to-month on electrical energy at Lagos airport.
He added that the ministry is working to undertake environmentally pleasant practices to eradicate the usage of diesel in airport operations.
In keeping with Kayamo, by investing in photo voltaic vitality methods, the ministry will scale back the excessive prices of working airports, saving the federal government 30 % of its present month-to-month electrical energy prices.
“We’re making cautious and gradual efforts in direction of adopting inexperienced practices, which is what the world now stands for in actuality – inexperienced practices and inexperienced applied sciences which can be consistent with ICAO’s bold long-term world aim of reaching world net-zero carbon emissions,” stated Kiamo, Aviation Sector. .
He additional famous: “They need us to use, to begin with, the kind of gasoline that doesn’t burn a lot, which has low carbon emissions, and that’s the reason we wish to section out the usage of diesel to function our airports.
“We wish to run our airports on photo voltaic vitality and it will save us loads each month. I used to be advised that at Lagos airport alone, we spend one billion naira a month on electrical energy. That is nonetheless one thing I’m making an attempt to resolve,” he stated.
(Marks for translation) 2024
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Enterprise & Economic system , 2025 , Abuja , Airport Energy Infrastructure , FG , N8.73 billion , Nnamdi Azikiwe Worldwide Airport
