Tinubu Not Neglecting North — Budget Chief Reveals Over 50% of Capital Projects Allocated Up North

The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, has asserted that more than half of the capital expenditures for Nigeria’s 2024 and 2025 budgets have been allocated to projects located across the northern region of the country.

According to a clarification obtained by iReporter Online on Monday, Yakubu’s remarks come in response to recent criticisms by several prominent northern figures, including former Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, ex-Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir Lawal, and Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) Board of Trustees Chairman, Bashir Dalhatu. The critics had accused the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of marginalizing the North in terms of infrastructure development and capital investments.

Yakubu firmly rejected those claims, characterizing them as politically driven and misleading. He insisted that the northern region is not being neglected but, in fact, lies at the core of the federal government’s capital deployment strategy under Tinubu’s leadership.

“Contrary to politically motivated narratives, northern Nigeria is not on the margins; it is at the heart of federal investment priorities,” he stated.

He emphasized that, when major infrastructure such as national trunk roads and water basin projects are factored in, over 50% of the federal capital budget for the current and upcoming fiscal years is committed to projects in the North.

Yakubu cited several flagship developments to support his claim. These include the Abuja–Kano expressway dualisation, the ₦12.1 trillion Sokoto–Badagry superhighway spanning 1,068 kilometres, with ₦3.63 trillion already approved for early work in Sokoto and Kebbi states, and the Kano–Maradi standard gauge railway.

Also highlighted were the Zungeru–Kano power transmission line and expansion of airport facilities in Kaduna, Maiduguri, and Katsina. The DG noted strategic investments in agricultural export infrastructure, including the construction of inland dry ports in Funtua and Bauchi.

In the water resources sector, Yakubu pointed to significant funding directed at revitalizing river basin authorities, particularly in Sokoto-Rima and Upper Benue, to bolster irrigation, flood control, and rural livelihood projects.

Security-related capital spending, he added, has also received substantial boosts, particularly in areas grappling with instability.