Lists roads, rail, energy, health, agriculture, education projects across Northern geopolitical zones
President has been fair to all parts of the country – Umahi
Afenifere slams ex-Kano governor over ‘alarmist rhetoric’
Brandishing figures and photographs, federal government officials yesterday rejected claims by former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso that the Tinubu administration has been concentrating federal projects in southern Nigeria at the expense of the north.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Mr. Sunday Dare, dismissed the allegations as wrong.
He listed 43 projects spanning the health, road, rail/metro, agricultural, waterway/trade, energy/gas, housing and national programme sectors being executed or already in place in the north.
Housing and Urban Development Minister Ahmed Musa Dangiwa and the Minister of State in the ministry, Abdullahi Yusuf Atah, stormed Kano to showcase the housing units, asphaltic paved roads, culverts and drainage systems, electricity and water in the Renewed Hope City (RHC) and Renewed Hope Housing Estate (RHHE) in the state.
Works Minister David Umahi published a list of road projects being handled by his ministry and declared that the President has been fair to all parts of the country in the distribution of roads.
The Pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, said Kwankwaso’s comments were out of tune with the facts of the matter.
It said the former governor’s criticism was grossly misleading, describing it as a deliberate attempt to paint President Bola Tinubu in bad light.
Dare, in a rebuttal on his verified X handle @SundayDareSD, said that contrary to Kwankwaso’s claims, President Tinubu has the North covered.
“Senator Kwankwaso. You are wrong. North not neglected; President Tinubu has the North covered,” he said.
He listed the samplers as follows:
*Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressway
*Sokoto-Badagry Expressway
*Sokoto-Zamfara-Katsina Expressway.
AGRICULTURE
*$158.15m Agriculture Value Chain (VCN) Programme for nine Northern states
* Kolmani Integrated Development Project (Bauchi and Gombe states)
* 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.
* Kano River Project (irrigation scheme) — large-scale integrated irrigation development in Kano State, commissioned in 2023 and operational under the current administration.
HEALTH
* Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Kaduna (North West)
* Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina (North West)
*University of Jos Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau (North Central)
* Reference Hospital, Kaduna (North West)
* Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto (North West)
* Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi (North East).
* Harmony Advanced Diagnostic Centre Complex, Ilorin, Kwara (North Central)
* Federal Medical Centre, Nguru, Yobe (North East)
* Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau (North Central) — additional expansion
* Reinvigoration of about 1,000 Primary Health Centres, PHCS in the North
ROADS AND HIGHWAYS
* Kano–Kongolam Road (Section II: Kano–Kanwar–Danja–Hadeji)
* Yakasai–Zalli Road
* 1,068 km Sokoto-Badagry Super Highway (Northern section including Sokoto and Kebbi)
* 258 km, 3-lane Carriageway (Section 2, Phase 2A: CH 120+000–CH 378+000) in Gulumbe, Kebbi State
* Abuja–Kaduna –Zaria–Kano Dual Carriageway
* Biu–Kangiwa–Kamba –Gaya–Niger Republic Road (30 km segment)
* Malando–Garin Baka–Ngaski–Wara Road (CH.0+000 – CH.79+586)
* Koko–Besse–Zaria–Kala Road
* Abuja–Kaduna–Kano Highway (375 km)
* Repair of the Gamboru Bridge (Gamboru–Ngala –Kala–Balde Road in Borno State)
* Expansion of Mararaba–Keffi Road (43.65 km)
* Construction of Lafia Bypass Road (Nasarawa State)
* Kano–Maiduguri Dual Carriageway
* Adamawa–Taraba Single Carriageway
* Adamawa–Borno Single Carriageway
* Kaduna–Jos Road (Single Carriageway)
* Zaria–Funtua –Gusau–Sokoto Road (Dual Carriageway)
* Zaria–Hunkuyi–Daya Road (Sections I, II & III – 152.67 km) — rehabilitation project in Kaduna and Kano states
* Reconstruction of Dikwa–Gamboru–Ngala Road (49.55 km) — strategic corridor reconstruction in Borno State
ENERGY AND GAS
* Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano Gas Pipeline (AKK) (614 km)
* Gwagwalada Power Plant (FCT, Abuja – connected with AKK pipeline)
* ABIBA Solar Power Station, Kaduna (50 MW) — planned solar power plant to boost renewable energy capacity in Kaduna State
RAIL AND METRO
* Kaduna–Kano Rail Line (203 km, part of Lagos-Kano Rail Project)
* Kano–Maradi Rail Line (285 km, linking Kano, Jigawa, Katsina to Maradi in Niger Republic)
* Kaduna Light Rail System — N100 billion budget allocation to develop light rail public transport in Kaduna
* Abuja Metro Line Rehabilitation (Abuja Light Rail)
WATERWAYS & TRADE CORRIDORS
* Trans-Sahara Trade Route — infrastructure development to connect trade routes from Calabar through Nasarawa and Abuja towards Northern Nigeria and beyond
NATIONAL PROGRAMMES & INSTITUTIONS
* National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW) — renewed mandate and leadership for desertification combat in Northern Nigeria
* Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) — ongoing erosion control and watershed infrastructure development in the North.
In another post yesterday, Dare drew attention to the ongoing construction in Kano of 2000 units under the Renewed Hope Housing.
His words: “The Federal Government through the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is currently constructing 250 units Renewed Hope estate in 12 states across the six geo- political zones of the country under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Housing Programme.
“The Federal Government is also constructing seven Renewed Hope Cities, one in each geo-political zone and FCT, with the Kano, Lagos and FCT cities in advanced stage, while the take- off in the remaining four zones of North East, North Central, South South and South East is in the offing.
Kwankwaso’s claims absolutely false, self-serving,says Umahi
Works Minister Umahi gave a breakdown of the road projects being executd by his ministry across the country and said:
“ Senator Kwankwaso’s claim that President Tinubu’s administration is marginalizing the North in road infrastructure development is absolutely false, misleading, and self-serving.
“ As Minister of Works, I have verified facts to prove otherwise.
“The four legacy projects of President Tinubu demonstrate a commitment to fairness and equity:
– Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway: 175km ongoing (South)
– Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway: 378km ongoing (North)
– Trans Sahara road: 118km ongoing in Ebonyi State (South)
– Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe road: redesigned and ongoing (North)
“ In these projects, the North has 52% and the South has 48%.
“ Moreover, ongoing projects in the North include:
– Sokoto-Zamfara-Katsina-Kaduna road: 275km dualized, ₦824 billion
– Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road: 350km dualized, ₦764 billion
– BUA Tax Credit road: 256km dualized, Jigawa-Katsina-Kano
– Kano Northern Bypass: 49km
– Other projects in Borno, Kebbi, Benue, and Kogi states
“ In contrast, major ongoing projects in the South include:
– Completion of Lagos-Ibadan expressway
– Completion of Lagos-Sagamu road – Oyo-Ogbomoso-Ilorin road
– Repairs of Carter bridge, Third Mainland bridge, and Eko bridge
– Projects in South East and South-South regions
“ I will publish a comprehensive list of ongoing projects next week, including those above N20 billion. President Tinubu is committed to developing every part of the country with fairness and equity.
“Senator Kwankwaso’s statement is divisive and misleading. I challenge him to a debate to set the records straight.”
Tinubu not marginalising North, Afenifere slams Kwankwaso
Afenifere, in a statement in Akure, Ondo State by its National Organising Secretary, Otunba Kole Omololu, said Kwankwaso’s statement was not only grossly misleading but also deliberately incendiary.
It said that contrary to Kwankwaso’s claim, no region has benefitted more from concentrated federal presence over the past decade than the North.
It said the south has also at one time or the other suffered neglect and cited the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Second Niger Bridge, which it said were left uncompleted for many years.
“But less than two years into President Tinubu’s administration, Kwankwaso is crying foul,” Afenifere said.
Afenifere added that Kwankwaso may be unaware that the Tinubu administration has initiated and awarded several critical infrastructure projects in the North, including the dualisation of the Kano-Maiduguri Road, Sokoto-Tambuwal-Jega Road, and the Abuja-Keffi-Lafia corridor.
Others are: the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline, neglected by past regimes, is being fast tracked.
“Just last week, President Tinubu approved billions of naira for infrastructure projects in Katsina, Borno and Niger states,” it said.
Describing Kwankwaso’s comments as “alarmist rhetoric,” Afenifere warned that such statements not only distort the truth but could also inflame regional tensions.
Continuing, Afenifere said: “Development is a gradual process, and Tinubu has not yet reached the halfway mark of his term. By 2027, and indeed by 2031, every region, including the North will feel the impact of this administration.
“We must rise above ethnic saboteurs and sectional agitators masquerading as patriots. Let statesmen, not ethnic lords, shape the national conversation.”
Kwankwaso, speaking during the Kano State Stakeholders’ Dialogue on the 2025 Constitutional Amendment on Thursday, had claimed that “most of the national budget is now tilting in one direction in this country.”
Kwankwaso said most roads in the north remained in deplorable conditions while the federal government continued to allocate lump budgetary allocations for infrastructural development in the southern region.
“We are told that there is a road from the South to the East. We support infrastructure anywhere in this country…and any other thing that is good for the masses, but a situation where government is taking our resources and dumping it in one part of the country and other parts of the country are left just like that, I don’t believe that is the right thing to do by the government itself,” Kwankwaso had said.
