The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Mr. Sunday Dare, on Friday has debunked recent claims by former Kano State Governor, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, alleging that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration has concentrated infrastructure development in the southern region at the expense of the North.
He insisted that the North remains a key focus of the administration’s development blueprint. He listed ongoing mega projects cutting across road infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare, and energy in the region.
“The claim that Northern Nigeria has been left behind is incorrect. The Tinubu administration has initiated and continued several landmark projects in the North, covering roads, agriculture, healthcare, and energy,” Dare stated in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
He cited key infrastructure efforts such as the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressway, Sokoto-Badagry Expressway, and the Sokoto-Zamfara-Katsina Road as examples of the government’s commitment to bridging developmental gaps. Dare also mentioned the $158.15 million Agriculture Value Chain Programme across nine northern states, the Kolmani Integrated Development Project in Bauchi and Gombe, and the World Bank–funded ACReSAL programme aimed at restoring over one million hectares of degraded land.
In the healthcare sector, he highlighted investments in the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital in Zaria, Federal Teaching Hospital Katsina, University of Jos Teaching Hospital, and the rehabilitation of over 1,000 primary healthcare centres across the North.
Kwankwaso had made the controversial remarks on Thursday while speaking at a stakeholders’ dialogue on the 2025 constitutional amendment held in Kano. He expressed frustration over what he described as poor attention to federal infrastructure in the North, particularly the deteriorating state of the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano highway.
“Yesterday, I was to come by air; unfortunately, my airline decided to shift our take-off from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. I had to come by road. From Abuja to Kaduna to Kano was hell — a terrible, very bad road,” Kwankwaso said. “This is a road that was started many years ago under the APC government. Now we are being told that a new road is being built linking the South to the East.”
The former NNPP presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections accused the Federal Government of sidelining the North in development planning and prioritisation, stirring a fresh wave of political debate over regional equity and inclusion.
However, the Presidency maintains that the administration’s record speaks for itself and urged political leaders to be factual and constructive in their criticisms for the sake of national unity and development.