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Budget Office chief counters claims of marginalisation of the North
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Says over 50% of capital projects for 2024–2025 target the region
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Cites key federal road, railway, power and water infrastructure across northern states
The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Mr Tanimu Yakubu, has dismissed allegations that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration is neglecting northern Nigeria in its capital project allocations, revealing that more than 50 percent of the 2024 and 2025 capital budgets are targeted at the North.
Yakubu’s statement is in direct response to accusations from leading northern political voices, including former Governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Engr Babachir Lawal; and the Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) Board of Trustees, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, who all accused the Federal Government of side-lining the North in the current infrastructural spending pattern.
Refuting the claims, Yakubu said the assertions were politically driven and contradicted the facts of the budgetary disbursements. According to him, the North remains central to the federal government’s investment agenda, with a significant portion of current capital projects concentrated across its states.
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“Contrary to politically motivated narratives, northern Nigeria is not on the margins, it is at the heart of federal investment priorities,” Yakubu stated, stressing that the Tinubu administration had deliberately committed to equitable national growth and cohesion through strategic capital allocation.
Yakubu cited the dualisation of the Abuja–Kano expressway and the multi-trillion naira Sokoto–Badagry superhighway, a 1,068-kilometre cross-regional infrastructure project for which ₦3.63 trillion has already been approved for early phases in Sokoto and Kebbi States, as examples of the government’s northern commitment.
He also pointed to the Kano–Maradi railway line, Zungeru–Kano transmission network, and major airport upgrades in Kaduna, Maiduguri, and Katsina as indicators of ongoing development focus. Additionally, he highlighted ongoing inland dry port developments in Funtua and Bauchi, aimed at enhancing regional agro-logistics and export capacity.
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In water resource development, Yakubu said investments in the Sokoto-Rima and Upper Benue River Basin Authorities were being scaled up to support irrigation systems, flood control and rural livelihoods, underlining the importance of water security to northern economic resilience.
He further noted that defence and security spending had received a sharp boost, particularly in the northern corridors plagued by insurgency and banditry, asserting that the administration’s priority was national stability.
