North not left behind under Tinubu — Presidency replies Kwankwaso

By Ayobami Okerinde

The presidency has dismissed claims by Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso that the Tinubu administration is concentrating more of the infrastructure development in the South than the North.

Kwankwaso, the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the 2023 election, during a stakeholders’ dialogue on the 2025 constitutional amendment in Kano on Thursday, alleged that the North was being sidelined in terms of federal projects and development priorities.

The former governor of Kano State lamented the deplorable state of the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano highway, describing the experience of travelling on it as “hell” compared to roads in the southern part of the country.

“Yesterday, I was to come by air; unfortunately, my airline decided to shift our take-off from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. I had to come by road. From Abuja to Kaduna to Kano was hell, a terrible, very bad road. And this is a road that was started many years ago, right from the beginning of the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Now we are told that there is a road from the South to the East,” he said.

Responding in a post on X on Friday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, countered the allegations, insisting that President Tinubu has demonstrated clear commitment to the growth of the north through numerous infrastructure and social intervention projects.

“The claim that Northern Nigeria has been left behind is incorrect. The Tinubu administration has initiated and continued several landmark projects in the North, covering roads, agriculture, healthcare, and energy,” Dare said.

He cited ongoing mega road projects such as the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressway, Sokoto-Badagry Expressway, and the Sokoto-Zamfara-Katsina Road, among others.

On agriculture, Dare highlighted the $158.15 million Agriculture Value Chain Programme covering nine northern states, the Kolmani Integrated Development Project in Bauchi and Gombe, and the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL), a World Bank–funded scheme aimed at restoring over one million hectares of degraded land.

He also pointed to investments in healthcare, including the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital in Zaria, Federal Teaching Hospital Katsina, University of Jos Teaching Hospital, and over 1,000 primary healthcare centres rehabilitated across the North.

In the transport sector, he referenced rail projects such as the Kaduna-Kano Rail Line, the Kano-Maradi Rail Line linking Nigeria to Niger Republic, and the rehabilitation of Abuja’s light rail system.

Dare further listed solar energy projects like the ABIBA 50 MW Solar Power Station in Kaduna, as well as major road reconstructions including the Zaria-Funtua-Gusau-Sokoto Dual Carriageway, the Dikwa-Gamboru-Ngala Road, and the Kaduna-Jos Single Carriageway.

He stressed that in just two years, President Tinubu’s administration has laid a foundation for long-term development in the region, contrary to Kwankwaso’s claims of neglect.

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