David Umahi, the Minister of Works, has told Rabiu Kwankwaso, former Governor of Kano State to apologise to President Bola Tinubu whom he accused of neglecting the Northern region of Nigeria.
Kwankwaso made the accusation last Thursday during a Stakeholders’ Dialogue on the 2025 Constitutional Amendment organised by the Kano State Government.
The 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) said he was concerned by the developmental challenges in Northern Nigeria, accusing President Tinubu of a lopsided distribution of the commonwealth in the country.
Kwankwaso lamented that the North keeps on struggling with limited resources, while he berated the Federal Government, under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for continuously allocating substantial resources to developmental projects in the Southern region of Nigeria.
“From the information available to us, it’s like most of the national budget is now tilting in one direction in this country,” Kwankwaso said.
“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.
“Most roads in the northern region remain in a deplorable condition, whilst the APC government continues to allocate lump budgetary provisions for infrastructural development in the southern region.”
Reacting via a strongly worded statement issued at the weekend, Umahi said that Kwankwaso’s claim of Tinubu neglecting Northern neglect is false, divisive, and politically self-serving.
The Minister of Works strongly criticised Kwankwaso for alleging that President Tinubu’s administration is neglecting the North in its infrastructure development.
Umahi stressed that Kwankwaso will not succeed in his desperation to inherit Muhammadu Buhari, the late former President’s impeccable legacy.
According to Umahi, out of the total length of Tinubu’s legacy projects across Nigeria, the North accounts for 52 per cent, while the South has 48 per cent.
Umahi hit out at Kwankwaso, saying the latter’s claims were aimed at deceiving northerners and stirring unnecessary regional sentiments, urging him to apologise to Tinubu for misleading Nigerians and retract the unfounded statement, which he described as lacking in both fact and substance.
“To my brother Senator Kwankwaso, you owe our pdgdSdear president an apology and a duty to withdraw your statement using the information I have provided for the benefit of Nigerians and the unity of the nation,” Umahi said.
“I request the good people of Nigeria to ignore Senator Kwankwaso’s misleading statement and know that President Tinubu is equally committed to developing every part of this country with fairness, equity, and the fear of God.
“I consider the statement as one made out of desperation and as part of his struggle, along with a few others who believe that they can inherit the impeccable legacy of our dear late President Muhammadu Buhari, and that the only way available for them towards achieving the same is to be divisive and pretentious.
“Trying to be like our late President Buhari cannot be a job of three decades and cannot be done with deceit.
“I think our younger generation has such a chance, and it must be worked for through hard work, honesty, transparency, and commitment to the unity of our country, a legacy that our late President Buhari achieved in all his life on earth. May God continue to bless his legacies and give him a peaceful rest, Amen.”
Umahi, countering Kwankwaso’s allegations, issued an update on major ongoing federal road projects across all six geopolitical zones, emphasising on the Northern region.
The former Governor of Ebonyi State said the four legacy projects of the Tinubu’s administration include the 750km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, with 175km under construction; 1,068km Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, with 378km ongoing in the North; 465km Trans-Sahara Highway, with 59km under construction in Ebonyi State; and Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe Road, measuring 439km and currently undergoing redesign to rigid pavement.
“Out of the total length of these legacy projects, the North accounts for 52% while the South has 48%. Within the segments already under construction, the North has 756km ongoing, compared to 409km in the South,” Umahi said, explaining that Kebbi State alone has 316km under construction, and Sokoto has 240km ongoing.
“In contrast, Lagos has just 220km, yet people only mention Lagos-Calabar and ignore the massive work in the North,” Umahi remarked, adding the 275km dualised Sokoto-Gusau-Funtua-Zaria Road, part of a 750km corridor being handled by four contractors at N824 billion, while also listing the 700km Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Road, valued at N764 billion.
Other key Northern projects, according to him, include the 256km BUA Tax Credit Road spanning Jigawa, Katsina, and Kano states; the 156km Zaria-Hunkuyi Road; the 49km Kano Northern Bypass; the 110km Kano-Maiduguri Section V; and various Dangote Tax Credit roads in Borno State.
According to him, additional projects in the North include the 76km Malando road in Kebbi; the 250km Benue-to-9th Mile Road; and the 86km Lokoja-Okene dualisation project.
“I repeat, Senator Kwankwaso should apologise to President Tinubu and Nigerians. His claim is not backed by facts. Let the truth be known. Let us focus on building a united and developed Nigeria. The facts are there for everyone to see,” Umahi said.
