Six state governments including Ekiti, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Yobe, Nasarawa, and Bayelsa have spent about N160bn on airport projects that opposition politicians and aviation professionals classified as unviable.

Stakeholders say the huge public funds expended on the facilities have amounted to waste. They condemned the state governors and asked Nigerians to hold them responsible for the waste.

However, some industry players advised that the facilities be converted into skill acquisition centres for the benefit of the citizens.

Some called on relevant authorities to probe the money spent on the unviable projects.

Checks by the PUNCH showed that the six states spent over N160bn on their various airport projects, but the facilities have not attracted a considerable number of aircraft for charter or commercial purposes.

Apart from the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos; Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, and Port Harcourt International Airport, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, that generate about 80 per cent of revenues for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, other airports constitute a financial burden to FAAN.

But, despite the challenges facing most of the aerodromes in the country, more state governments have continued to pump scarce resources into the construction of more airports with most designating them as “cargo airports.”