PRESIDENCY DEFENDS DEVELOPMENT SPENDING IN NORTH AMID KWANKWASO’S CRITICISM

The Presidency has countered claims of Northern marginalisation by Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, insisting that the region is receiving robust federal investments under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Sunday Dare, listed over 40 major infrastructure projects in the North, including highways, rail lines, health upgrades, and power plants.
Projects highlighted include the Abuja–Kaduna–Kano Expressway, Kaduna–Kano Rail Line, and a ₦100 billion Kaduna Light Rail System. In health, the government is upgrading Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital and over 1,000 PHCs.
Pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, also joined the fray, describing Kwankwaso’s remarks as “incendiary and misleading,” and reminding him of the North’s disproportional benefits under the Buhari administration.
“Where was Kwankwaso’s voice for equity when the Kano–Maradi rail line was constructed into Niger Republic?” the group queried.
Afenifere called for patience, urging leaders to “rise above ethnic saboteurs and sectional agitators masquerading as patriots.”