Presidency to Kwankwaso: You Are Wrong, North Not Neglected By FG

Deji Elumoye and Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The Presidency yesterday punctured the position of former Governor of Kano State and leader of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, that the current administration has concentrated development in the southern part of the country.
Presidential spokesperson, Sunday Dare, who reacted on behalf of the government, said nothing could be far from the truth as the assertion of Kwankwaso was a blatant lie.

Also yesterday, the Afenifere, Yoruba socio-political organisation lampooned Kwankwaso over his recent outburst.
Dare, in his verified X handle told the ex-governor of Kano State pointedly that both the southern and northern parts of Nigeria are equally being developed by the two-year-old administration of President Bola Tinubu.
He wrote: “Senator Kwankwaso, you are wrong. North not neglected. President Tinubu has the North covered. Northern Nigeria not left behind.”
Dare gave some samples/evidence of the federal government’s projects across northern Nigeria under Tinubu’s administration.

The presidential media aide said, for starters under Tinubu, three expressways, namely Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressway,
Sokoto-Badagry Expressway and Sokoto-Zamfara-Katsina Expressway are currently being reconstructed.
For the other 43 projects in the northern Nigeria, Dare listed them to include:
Agriculture – $158.15 million Agriculture Value Chain (VCN) Programme for nine Northern states; Kolmani Integrated Development Project (Bauchi and Gombe States); Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) — a six-year World Bank–funded programme to restore one million hectares of degraded land and improve climate resilience in Northern Nigeria states; and Kano River Project (irrigation scheme) — large-scale integrated irrigation development in Kano State, commissioned in 2023 and operational under the current administration.

For health, there are Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Kaduna (North West); Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina (North West); University of Jos Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau (North Central); Reference Hospital, Kaduna (North West); Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto (North West); Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi (North East); Harmony Advanced Diagnostic Centre Complex, Ilorin, Kwara (North Central); Federal Medical Centre, Nguru, Yobe (North East); Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau (North Central) — additional expansion and Reinvigoration of about 1,000 Primary Health Centers, PHCS in the North.

“Under roads and highways, we have Kano–Kongolam Road (Section II: Kano–Kanwar–Danja–Hadejia); Yakasai–Zalli Road; 1,068 km Sokoto-Badagry Super Highway (Northern section including Sokoto and Kebbi); 258 km, three-lane Carriageway (Section 2, Phase 2A: CH 120+000–CH 378+000) in Gulumbe, Kebbi State; Abuja–Kaduna–Zaria–Kano Dual Carriageway.
“Biu–Kangiwa–Kamba–Gaya–Niger Republic Road (30 km segment); Malando–Garin Baka–Ngaski–Wara Road (CH.0+000 – CH.79+586); Koko–Besse–Zaria–Kala Road;
Abuja–Kaduna–Kano Highway (375 km); Repair of the Gamboru Bridge (Gamboru–Ngala–Kala–Balde Road in Borno State).
“Expansion of Mararaba–Keffi Road (43.65 km); Construction of Lafia Bypass Road (Nasarawa State); Kano–Maiduguri Dual Carriageway; Adamawa–Taraba Single Carriageway; Adamawa–Borno Single Carriageway; Kaduna–Jos Road (Single Carriageway); Zaria–Funtua–Gusau–Sokoto Road (Dual Carriageway); Zaria–Hunkuyi–Daya Road (Sections I, II & III – 152.67 km) — rehabilitation project in Kaduna and Kano States and Reconstruction of Dikwa–Gamboru–Ngala Road (49.55 km) — strategic corridor reconstruction in Borno State,” it added.

Furthermore, the statement added: “In energy and gas sector, the projects include Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano Gas Pipeline (AKK) (614 km); Gwagwalada Power Plant (FCT, Abuja – connected with AKK pipeline) and ABIBA Solar Power Station, Kaduna (50 MW) — planned solar power plant to boost renewable energy capacity in Kaduna State.

“For rail and metro, the Northern projects include Kaduna–Kano Rail Line (203 km, part of Lagos-Kano Rail Project); Kano–Maradi Rail Line (285 km, linking Kano, Jigawa, Katsina to Maradi in Niger Republic);

 Kaduna Light Rail System — ₦100 billion budget allocation to develop light rail public transport in Kaduna and Abuja Metro Line Rehabilitation (Abuja Light Rail).

“In the waterways & trade corridors, the project being executed is  Trans-Sahara Trade Route — infrastructure development to connect trade routes from Calabar through Nasarawa and Abuja towards Northern Nigeria and beyond.

“The National Programmes & Institutions are also covered by two Northern projects namely National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW) — renewed mandate and leadership for desertification combat in Northern Nigeria; and Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) — ongoing erosion control and watershed infrastructure development in the North.”

Meanwhile, Afeniferetion has lampooned Kwankwaso over his outburst.

The group in a statement signed by its National Organising Secretary, Kole Omololu, said the allegation was not only grossly misleading but also deliberately incendiary.

Omololu, in the statement, said Kwankwaso as a former governor and minister was expected to speak with facts, not emotions laced with sectional bias.

He said: “It must be stated unequivocally that no region in Nigeria has benefited more from concentrated federal presence in the past decade than the North. During the Buhari administration—a northern

presidency, which Senator Kwankwaso conveniently omits—critical national resources were disproportionately channelled to the North. The World Bank Managing Director publicly disclosed

that President Buhari specifically directed the institution to focus its interventions in northern Nigeria.”

He asked: “Where was Kwankwaso’s voice for equity and fairness then? Road and rail infrastructure were overwhelmingly skewed. The Kano-Maradi railway, constructed deep into Niger Republic with no economic significance to Nigeria, was completed under Buhari. Was

this done for national integration or to aid cross-border movement of Fulani kinsmen?

“Less than two years into President Tinubu’s administration, Kwankwaso is crying foul. Perhaps he is unaware that critical road projects have been initiated and awarded across the North, including the dualisation of the Kano-Maiduguri Road, Sokoto-Tambuwal-Jega Road, and the Abuja-Keffi-Lafia corridor. The Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline, neglected by past regimes, is being fast-tracked. Just weeks ago, President Tinubu approved billions for critical infrastructure in Katsina, Borno, and Niger States.Kwankwaso’s alarmist rhetoric is not only unfair but also deeply dangerous.

“It stokes regional tension and paints a false picture of deliberate southern favouritism. Development is a gradual process, and

Tinubu has not yet reached the halfway mark of his term. By 2027, and indeed by 2031, every region, including the North, will feel the impact of this administration.”