— Says by 2031, every region will feel the impact of Tinubu’s administration.
By Dayo Johnson, Akure
The Yoruba Socio-Political Group, Afenifere, has described as baseless the claims by the former Kano state governor and Presidential candidate, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s alleging that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration is marginalising the North and concentrating national resources in the South.
It’s National Organising Secretary, Otunba Kole Omololu, in a statement, dismissed the allegation of sidelining of the Northern part of the country in the development agenda of the Tinubu’s administration.
Omololu said that the claim “is not only grossly misleading but also deliberately incendiary.
The statement reads, “As a former governor and minister, one would expect Senator Kwankwaso to speak with facts, not emotions laced with sectional bias.
” It must be stated unequivocally that no region in Nigeria has benefited more from concentrated federal presence in the past decade than the North.
“During the Buhari administration—a northern presidency, which Senator Kwankwaso conveniently omits—critical national resources were disproportionately channelled to the North.
“The World Bank Managing Director publicly disclosed that President Buhari specifically directed the institution to focus its interventions in northern Nigeria.
“Where was Kwankwaso’s voice for equity and fairness then?
Road and rail infrastructure were overwhelmingly skewed.
“The Kano-Maradi railway, constructed deep into Niger Republic with no economic significance to Nigeria, was completed under Buhari.
“Was this done for national integration or to aid cross-border movement of Fulani kinsmen?
“Meanwhile, under the same regime, the hell on which the senator travelled was not made heaven, the Lagos
Ibadan Expressway, started by President Jonathan and designed to reach Iwo Junction, remained uncompleted.
“The Second Niger Bridge was still pending upon Buhari’s exit after eight years in office.
“Less than two years into President Tinubu’s administration, Kwankwaso is crying foul.
“Perhaps he is unaware that critical road projects have been initiated and awarded across the North, including the dualisation of the Kano-Maiduguri Road, Sokoto-Tambuwal-Jega Road, and the Abuja-Keffi-Lafia corridor.
“The Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline, neglected by past regimes, is being fast tracked.
“Just weeks ago, President Tinubu approved billions for critical infrastructure in Katsina, Borno, and Niger States.
“Kwankwaso’s alarmist rhetoric is not only unfair but also deeply dangerous. It stokes regional tension and paints a false picture of deliberate southern favouritism.
“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.
The group declared that “We must rise above ethnic saboteurs and sectional agitators masquerading as patriot, let statemen, not ethnic lords shape the conversation
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