The Federal Government has proposed a budget of N23.085 billion for rehabilitating and repairing airports/airfields and air navigational equipment in the 2024 fiscal year. Specifically, N20.985 billion is allocated for the rehabilitation and repairs of airports/airfields, while N2.1 billion is designated for rehabilitating air navigational equipment.
This allocation is part of the Federal Government’s proposal in the 2024 Appropriation Bill, which also designates over N63.31 billion for the parent Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development. The Ministry receives N39.80 billion, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency gets N13,199,789,935, the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, is allocated N5,500,235,528, and the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, NSIB, receives N4,808,779,916.
Further details of the allocation reveal that the Ministry and its agencies will spend over N1.39 billion on refreshments, meals, welfare packages, sporting activities, and other listed items. The Ministry plans to allocate N2 billion to develop the Aerospace University in Abuja and N1 billion to expand wings D and E fingers of Murtala Mohammed Airport, MMA, in Lagos. Additionally, N500 million is earmarked for ongoing projects on safety and security-critical projects and airport certification nationwide, with N10 million budgeted for the purchase of fire trucks for airports.
The sum of N60 million is set aside for ongoing Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreements (BASA) and Multilateral Air Service Agreements (MASA) for countries such as Namibia, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Russia, Senegal, Israel, Pakistan, Iran, South Africa, and others.
In a related development, the Office of the Head of State (HoS) has been allocated over N13 billion to construct an employee wellness centre, purchase new air conditioning units, and other miscellaneous expenses in the 2024 appropriation bill. Notably, the inclusion of employee wellness centers has been a recurring project in past appropriation bills, with the Head of Service planning to spend N30 million on the construction and establishment of an Employee Wellness Centre in the 2024 Budget, compared to N15 million earmarked for the same project in 2022.
