The Yoruba socio-politcal group, Afenifere, has rebuked former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, for accusing President Bola Tinubu of marginalising the North and concentrating national resources in the South.
Afenifere described Mr Kwakwaso’s comments as not only “grossly misleading but also deliberately incendiary.”
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The 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP) made the allegations while speaking at a stakeholders dialogue on the review of the 1999 Constitution held in Kano.
Mr Kwankwaso said the President Tinubu had concentrated the country’s resources on developing the southern part of the country.
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He alleged that the lack of care for the North was breeding insecurity and poverty in the region.
“Let me advise the federal government on the distribution of federal resources,” Mr Kwankwaso said.
“From the information available to us, it’s like most of the national budget is now tilting in one direction in this country.”
The former governor of Kano State spoke a day after he met with the president Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The Presidency has since replied him, dismissing his claims.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, said the politician was not in touch with the administration’s development initiatives.
Mr Dare also listed some developmental projects and programmes that Mr Tinubu has embarked on or executed in northern Nigeria in the last two years.
Sectional bias
For his part, Afenifere accused Mr Kwankwaso of sectional bias as his claims had no facts.
“It must be stated unequivocally that no region in Nigeria has benefited more from concentrated federal presence in the past decade than the North,” Afenifere’s statement on Friday by Kole Omololu, its national organising secretary, said.
“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.
READ ALSO: Umahi attacks Kwankwaso over allegations of Northern marginalisation in Tinubu’s projects
“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.”
Afenifere also asserted that Mr Kwakwaso’s comments stokes regional tension and paints a false picture of deliberate southern favouritism.
The group also urged all sections of the country to rise above ethnic saboteurs and sectional agitators masquerading as patriots.
“Let statesmen, not ethnic lords, shape the conversation,” it added.
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