•Comtech awarded N84.5b
•FAAN, NCAA excluded from budget
Federal Government has appropriated N87.3 billion to the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development and four other agencies in the 2026 appropriation bill sent to the National Assembly last December.
This amount approved is a decline from the N105,953,496,365 appropriated to the sector in 2025 and an increase from N63,317,450,275 earmarked for the industry in 2024.
Also, three major projects under the supervision of the ministry would gulp about N10 billion, according to the appropriation bill obtained by The Guardian.
The projects are expansion of existing General Aviation Terminal (GAT) at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano at the rate of N1 billion; refund of N4 billion to the Kebbi State Government on the construction of Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport, Birnin Kebbi and construction of corporate headquarters building and staff accommodation for Federal Ministry of Aviation and its agencies at the sum of N5 billion.
Further breakdown of the N87 billion appropriation bill for the ministry in 2026 revealed that the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development was allocated the sum of N50,646,938,934; Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), N11,836,942,378 and the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, with N11,281,209,862, among others.
However, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) were not included in the 2026 budget.
The two agencies are regarded as revenue-generating organisations and self-sustaining, while their projects are funded by the government.
NAMA, for the first time in five years, was captured in the budget.
Meanwhile, the three projects mentioned above were also included in the 2025 budget, with the same amount of money allocated to each.
However, it was not clear if the monies were released to the ministry within the last financial year period for them to reappear in the 2026 appropriation bill to the National Assembly.
Besides, the government spent N5 billion for the acquisition of safety and security critical projects and airports certification nationwide, Category IIIAirfield Lighting (AFL) and disabled aircraft recovery equipment.
Another major project to be undertaken in 2026 by the ministry, according to the appropriation bill, is the Aerospace University Abuja, at a cost of N3,000,000,000.
In another development, the Federal Government has allocated N84, 560,242, 389 to the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (Comtech)and two agencies in the 2026 appropriation bill.
The budget shows that the Nigeria Communication Satellite is allocated N9,902,876,431, while the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) gets N28,599,720,151. In the budget, the ministry is expected to work with N46,057,645,807 this year.
Personnel costs for the ministry amount to N1,701,588,769; overhead, N760,222,984; and capital, N43,595,984. For Nigeria Communication Satellite, N2, 640,278,983 was allocated for personnel; N240,946,815 for overhead, while N7,021,650,633 will be for capital expenses.
Overall, the ministry is expected to spend N32.9 billion on personnel, N1,001,169,799 on overhead, and N50.7 billion on capital expenditure.
President Tinubu said the Budget, titled: “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity,” is designed to consolidate recent economic reforms and translate stabilising macroeconomic indicators into improved living standards for Nigerians.
In the budget, Ministries of Works, Defence, and Education got N3.4 trillion, N3.2 trillion and N2.3 trillion, respectively.
Others, including Health and Social Science (N2.1 trillion); Agriculture and Food Security (N1.4 trillion); Police Affairs (N1.3 trillion); Niger Delta (N1.3 trillion); Power (N1.1 trillion); and INEC (N1 trillion).
