The Presidency has said the 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, is wrong to have claimed that the north has been neglected by the Bola Tinubu-led administration.
Kwankwaso had alleged while speaking at Coronation Hall, Kano Government House, on Thursday, during a stakeholders’ engagement meeting, that there was no equitable distribution of resources by the Federal Government.
He had said: “Let me advise the Federal Government on the distribution of federal resources. From the information available to us, it is like most of the national budget is now tilting in one direction in this country,” he said.
“Let me advise those who are struggling by all means to take everything to remember that some of the issues that we have in this part of the country today have to do with lack of enough resources and mismanagement of the little that comes in.
“That is why we have insecurity, we have poverty, and so on. It is happening here mainly, but like a desert, it would go everywhere.”
But in a detailed rebuttal shared on his X handle, Special Adviser, Media & Public Communication to the President, Sunday Dare wrote, “Senator Kwankwaso. You are wrong. North not neglected. President Tinubu has the north covered. Northern Nigeria not left behind.”
He then listed projects and programmes being executed by the administration in the north across different sectors.
Some of the projects listed by Dare are the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressway, the Sokoto-Badagry Expressway, the $158.15m Agriculture Value Chain (VCN) Programme for nine northern states and the Kolmani Integrated Development Project for Bauchi and Gombe States.
He also listed the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Kaduna (North West), Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina (North West), the University of Jos Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau (North Central), the Reference Hospital, Kaduna (North West) and the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto (North West) as examples of projects under the Tinubu administration.
Read Dare’s full post below:
SENATOR KWANKWOSO. YOU ARE WRONG. NORTH NOT NEGLECTED.
PRESIDENT TINUBU HAS THE NORTH COVERED
NORTHERN NIGERIA NOT LEFT BEHIND.
SOME SAMPLERS/ EVIDENCE
SOME Federal Government Projects across Northern Nigeria Under President Tinubu’s Administration
For starters : Under President Tinubu
Abuja-Kaduna-kano Expressway
Sokoto-Badagry Expressway
Sokoto-Zamfara-Katsina Expressway
AGRICULTURE
1. $158.15m Agriculture Value Chain (VCN) Programme for nine Northern states
2. Kolmani Integrated Development Project (Bauchi and Gombe States)
3. Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) — a six-year World Bank–funded programme to restore 1 million hectares of degraded land and improve climate resilience in Northern Nigeria states
4. Kano River Project (irrigation scheme) — large-scale integrated irrigation development in Kano State, commissioned in 2023 and operational under the current administration
HEALTH
5. Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Kaduna (North West)
6. Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina (North West)
7. University of Jos Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau (North Central)
8. Reference Hospital, Kaduna (North West)
9. Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto (North West)
10. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi (North East)
11. Harmony Advanced Diagnostic Centre Complex, Ilorin, Kwara (North Central)
12. Federal Medical Centre, Nguru, Yobe (North East)
13. Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau (North Central) — additional expansion
14. Reinvigoration of about 1,000 Primary Health Centers, PHCS in the North
ROADS AND HIGHWAYS
15. Kano–Kongolam Road (Section II: Kano–Kanwar–Danja–Hadejia)
16. Yakasai–Zalli Road
17. 1,068 km Sokoto-Badagry Super Highway (Northern section including Sokoto and Kebbi)
18. 258 km, 3-lane Carriageway (Section 2, Phase 2A: CH 120+000–CH 378+000) in Gulumbe, Kebbi State
19. Abuja–Kaduna–Zaria–Kano Dual Carriageway
20. Biu–Kangiwa–Kamba–Gaya–Niger Republic Road (30 km segment)
21. Malando–Garin Baka–Ngaski–Wara Road (CH.0+000 – CH.79+586)
22. Koko–Besse–Zaria–Kala Road
23. Abuja–Kaduna–Kano Highway (375 km)
24. Repair of the Gamboru Bridge (Gamboru–Ngala–Kala–Balde Road in Borno State)
25. Expansion of Mararaba–Keffi Road (43.65 km)
26. Construction of Lafia Bypass Road (Nasarawa State)
27. Kano–Maiduguri Dual Carriageway
28. Adamawa–Taraba Single Carriageway
29. Adamawa–Borno Single Carriageway
30. Kaduna–Jos Road (Single Carriageway)
31. Zaria–Funtua–Gusau–Sokoto Road (Dual Carriageway)
32. Zaria–Hunkuyi–Daya Road (Sections I, II & III – 152.67 km) — rehabilitation project in Kaduna and Kano States
33. Reconstruction of Dikwa–Gamboru–Ngala Road (49.55 km) — strategic corridor reconstruction in Borno State
ENERGY AND GAS
34. Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano Gas Pipeline (AKK) (614 km)
35. Gwagwalada Power Plant (FCT, Abuja – connected with AKK pipeline)
36. ABIBA Solar Power Station, Kaduna (50 MW) — planned solar power plant to boost renewable energy capacity in Kaduna State
RAIL AND METRO
37. Kaduna–Kano Rail Line (203 km, part of Lagos-Kano Rail Project)
38. Kano–Maradi Rail Line (285 km, linking Kano, Jigawa, Katsina to Maradi in Niger Republic)
39. Kaduna Light Rail System — ₦100 billion budget allocation to develop light rail public transport in Kaduna
40. Abuja Metro Line Rehabilitation (Abuja Light Rail)
WATERWAYS & TRADE CORRIDORS
41. Trans-Sahara Trade Route — infrastructure development to connect trade routes from Calabar through Nasarawa and Abuja towards Northern Nigeria and beyond
NATIONAL PROGRAMMES & INSTITUTIONS
42. National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW) — renewed mandate and leadership for desertification combat in Northern Nigeria
43. Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) — ongoing erosion control and watershed infrastructure development in the North.
All of these in only two years by President Tinubu
@officialABAT
