The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of marginalising northern Nigeria in federal budget allocations and infrastructure development.
ACF Board of Trustees Chairman, Bashir Dalhatu, pointed this out on Tuesday, July 29, in Kaduna, he said the region had been excluded from key decisions and projects, despite giving President Tinubu significant electoral support in 2023.
Dalhatu spoke at a two-day citizen engagement session hosted by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation.
He referenced the 2025 federal budget to illustrate his concerns, highlighting that out of ₦1.013 trillion earmarked for road projects, only ₦24 billion, less than one per cent, was allocated to the Northeast.
“In addition to its natural disadvantages, Northern Nigeria also suffers from age-old neglect by the federal government in relation to the development of transportation infrastructure in the country,” he said.
“Unlike the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Second Niger Bridge, not one single road of strategic importance to the North has been completed or even properly maintained in the last twenty years.
“For example, this year’s federal budget for roads is ₦1.013 trillion. But of that, a mere ₦24 billion (or less than 1%) was allocated to projects in the Northeast.
“It is important to invite the attention of the President to start, re-start, expedite or complete the construction of the major roads that are of great strategic importance to Northern Nigeria, which include the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano, Ilorin-Jebba-Tegina-B/Gwari-Kaduna, Abuja-Lokoja-Okene-Auchi, Zaria-Funtua-Gusau-Sokoto-Ilela, Keffi-Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe-Yola, Calabar-Ogoja-Wukari-Numan-Biu-Maiduguri and Wudil-Kafin Hausa-Katagum-Potiskum roads among others.”
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Dalhatu further criticised a budget breakdown released by the Federal Ministry of Works in May 2025, which he said revealed glaring regional disparities.
“Evidence of this regrettable situation abounds everywhere, but I will cite as an example the press statement published by the Federal Ministry of Works on the 5th of May, 2025: Southwest – ₦1.394 trillion, Southeast – ₦205 billion, Northwest – ₦105 billion, Northeast – ₦30 billion,” he said.
“Sadly, these days, this discriminatory practice is not done secretly; no, it is splashed directly into our face – openly and frankly and without apology.”
The ACF leader also decried what he described as underfunding of agriculture, arguing that northern Nigeria, which serves as the country’s agricultural base, is being neglected.
“The Northern states provide over 75% of Nigeria’s landmass and own 95% of the livestock industry. When agriculture remains one of the more neglected sectors in the economy, it is a cause for great concern in the North.
“Despite the apparent good intentions of the Tinubu administration, the federal government’s allocation to agriculture in the last two years remains below 5% of the total budget. The target set by the FAO is at least 25%,” he said.
“Federal budgetary allocation to agriculture and food security should be scaled up to at least 20% of the total. That way, the government could expand its support to farmers.
“Providing tractors and other mechanical equipment to farmers at subsidised prices, being done at the moment, is an example of a good and helpful policy.”