ABIA AIRPORT LAND: INTENT, LAW, AND THE DUTY TO VERIFY
The Nsulu airport land acquisition controversy raises serious questions—but also requires clarity on governance intent and lawful procedure.
First, Governor Alex Otti’s stated objective is infrastructure-led development: airports unlock logistics, trade corridors, and investment inflows. Land acquisition for public purpose is explicitly permitted under Nigeria’s Land Use Act, provided compensation is assessed and paid. Initiating acquisition therefore sits squarely within lawful executive authority.
Second, the governor has followed recognizable legal pathways: gazette declaration of public purpose, valuation and enumeration exercises, compensation registers, and budgetary appropriation. Allegations now center on possible distortions within implementation layers—precisely why petitions to EFCC, ICPC, and DSS are appropriate. That process is institutional accountability, not proof of executive fraud.
Third, if irregularities occurred—ghost beneficiaries, boundary manipulation, diversion—they would implicate intermediaries (survey, lands, certification chains). In such cases, petitioners serve the public interest best by exhausting mediation and verification channels with government audit teams. Collaborative reconciliation often uncovers deeper fraud networks and protects genuine landowners faster than adversarial escalation alone.
Ultimately, infrastructure acquisition is inherently disruptive; errors or abuses can occur. But the existence of petitions signals oversight working—not guilt established. The lawful path now is forensic audit, transparent register review, and restitution where warranted.
Good governance demands both scrutiny and fairness: projects must proceed, victims must be compensated, and any corrupt actors—whoever they are—must be exposed.
AProf Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke
