•Kwankwaso and Tinubu
The presidency has responded to claims by former Kano State governor and 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, dismissing his assertion that the North has been sidelined under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
The Frontier reports that Kwankwaso had raised the alarm during a stakeholders’ dialogue on the 2025 constitutional amendment held in Kano yesterday, accusing the federal government of skewing national resources in favour of the South, thereby worsening poverty and insecurity in the North.
He decried the poor state of federal roads in the region, recounting a recent ordeal where he was forced to travel from Abuja to Kano via Kaduna due to a cancelled flight. The trip, he said, was “hell” owing to the dilapidated road conditions.
In a swift response today Friday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, refuted the allegations in a post on his X handle, insisting that the Tinubu administration has not neglected the region.
“SENATOR KWANKWOSO. YOU ARE WRONG. NORTH NOT NEGLECTED. PRESIDENT TINUBU HAS THE NORTH COVERED. NORTHERN NIGERIA NOT LEFT BEHIND.”
He cited a range of ongoing projects to support his position, including the Abuja–Kaduna–Kano Expressway, the Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway, and the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano Gas Pipeline. According to him, the government is actively pursuing development across key sectors in the region.
Dare also mentioned the $158.15 million Agriculture Value Chain programme being implemented in nine Northern states, as well as the Kolmani Integrated Development Project in Bauchi and Gombe. He added that the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) initiative is working to restore one million hectares of degraded land.
The presidential aide highlighted ongoing health interventions, including the expansion of facilities at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria; University of Jos Teaching Hospital; and Federal Medical Centre, Nguru. He said about 1,000 primary healthcare centres across the North are being revitalised.
On infrastructure, Dare named several road projects such as the Kano–Kongolam Road, Kaduna–Jos Road, the Kano–Maiduguri Dual Carriageway, and key rehabilitation works in Borno and Adamawa states.
In the energy sector, he pointed to the 614-kilometre Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano Gas Pipeline, the Gwagwalada Power Plant, and planned solar projects in Kaduna. He further cited major railway projects, including the Kaduna–Kano and Kano–Maradi rail lines, as well as the Abuja Metro rehabilitation.
