The Ekiti Cargo Airport is yet to commence operation, a year after it was inaugurated by former Governor Kayode Fayemi with much fanfare in October 2022. Sited along Ado-Ijan Road in Ado-Ekiti, almost close to the Afe Babalola University in the state capital, the multi-billion-naira cargo airport was awarded to the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Ltd. (CCECC) Nigeria by Fayemi in 2019. The airport is expected to accommodate cargo and passenger services, the former governor said while inaugurating the project.
The founder, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), said on Thursday that Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, had been taking laudable steps by correcting the mistakes of past leaders and giving Ekiti people confidence in government.
Aggrieved farmers whose farms were affected by the ongoing airport project along Ado-Ijan Road in Ekiti State protested on Monday over the non-payment of compensations allegedly promised to them by the state government.
Ekiti State government has spent billions of naira on a fraudulent airport project and has continued to commit more funds to the project that has endlessly remained under construction despite the funds already committed to it. Some people have regarded the project as a white elephant gulping huge amounts of money with nothing to show for it. SaharaReporters earlier reported how Ekiti Cargo Airport was inaugurated with much fanfare in October 2022. However, six months after the inauguration of the project, it is not yet open for use.
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the request of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, seeking a free zone status for Ekiti