The Presidency has rejected claims by Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso that the North is being sidelined under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Kwankwaso, who contested in the 2023 presidential election under the New Nigeria Peoples Party, had raised concerns during a constitutional amendment dialogue in Kano on Thursday.
He warned that the government was concentrating resources in the South, worsening poverty and insecurity in the North.
He also decried the state of infrastructure, especially federal roads, recounting a recent ordeal where a cancelled flight forced him to drive from Abuja to Kano through Kaduna. Describing the experience, Kwankwaso said, “It was hell.”
In response, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, dismissed Kwankwaso’s remarks as unfounded.
“The claim that Northern Nigeria has been left behind is incorrect,” Dare wrote on Friday, July 25, in a post on X. “The Tinubu administration has initiated and continued several landmark projects in the North, covering roads, agriculture, healthcare, and energy.”
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He listed ongoing developments such as the Abuja–Kaduna–Kano Expressway, the Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway, and the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano Gas Pipeline as key examples.
In agriculture, Dare pointed to the $158.15 million Agriculture Value Chain programme covering nine Northern states, as well as the Kolmani Integrated Development Project in Bauchi and Gombe. He also cited the ACReSAL project, which targets the restoration of one million hectares of degraded land.
On healthcare, he noted recent investments in facilities like Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital in Zaria, University of Jos Teaching Hospital, and Federal Medical Centre in Nguru. He added that nearly 1,000 primary health centres have been revitalised across the North.
For road infrastructure, he listed the Kano–Kongolam Road, Kaduna–Jos Road, Kano–Maiduguri Dual Carriageway, and rehabilitation efforts in Borno and Adamawa.
Dare also referenced energy and rail initiatives, including the 614-kilometre Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano Gas Pipeline, Gwagwalada Power Plant, planned solar projects in Kaduna, and the ongoing Kaduna–Kano and Kano–Maradi rail lines, along with the Abuja Metro rehabilitation.
“Northern Nigeria is not left behind,” Dare insisted. “From road networks to gas pipelines, agriculture, health, and rail, this administration has the North well covered.”