The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has slammed former Kano State governor, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, over claims that the Tinubu administration is marginalizing the North in road infrastructure development.
Describing the allegations as “false, misleading, and self-serving,” Umahi said Kwankwaso owes President Bola Tinubu and Nigerians an apology for spreading misinformation.
In a strongly worded statement on Sunday, Umahi accused the former governor of attempting to deceive northerners for political gain.
He said, “I consider Kwankwaso’s statement to be grave misinformation, made intentionally to deceive our brothers and sisters in the North and to pretend that he loves the North more than any other leader from the region.”
Umahi added that Kwankwaso’s remarks reflect desperation by those seeking to inherit the legacy of the late President Muhammadu Buhari through divisive tactics.
“Trying to be like our late President Buhari cannot be a job of three decades and cannot be done with deceit,” he said, stressing that national unity must be built on honesty, hard work, and transparency.
Setting the record straight, the Minister outlined key road projects ongoing across the six geopolitical zones. He said President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope administration inherited and is actively executing a large number of infrastructure projects, many of which were awarded in 2023 under the previous government but failed to take off until now.
Umahi noted that four signature projects are being implemented under President Tinubu.
These, he said include the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the 1,068-kilometre Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, the Trans-Saharan highway crossing from Cross River to Abuja, and the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe road.
According to him, of all the segments currently under construction, 756 kilometres by three lanes are ongoing in the North, while the South accounts for 409 kilometres by three lanes.
“The facts are there. I wonder why people don’t talk about other legacy projects but always focus on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway,” he added.
He emphasized that Kebbi alone currently has 316 kilometres of the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway under construction, with Sokoto hosting another 240 kilometres.
“I think Senator Kwankwaso is not being fair to the President and to the unity of our country,” Umahi said.
The Minister also listed several major ongoing projects in the North, including the 275-kilometre Sokoto-Gusau-Funtua-Zaria dual carriageway covering Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, and Kaduna states, and the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano dualization project.
Others are the BUA tax credit road across Jigawa, Katsina, and Kano; the Kano Northern Bypass; sections of the Kano-Maiduguri road; the Zaria-Hunkuyi road; and the Bama-Dikwa axis in Borno.
In total, he referenced over a dozen major projects spread across the northern states.
In the South, Umahi cited the Lagos-Ibadan, Lagos-Sagamu, and Oyo-Ogbomoso-Ilorin roads as completed or near completion.
He also listed extensive works on critical bridges such as the Carter, Third Mainland, and Eko Bridges, along with projects in the South East like the Enugu-Onitsha road, Enugu-Abakaliki highway, and the 2nd Niger Bridge access roads.
In the South-South, he referenced the Eleme-Onne road, Eket Bypass, East-West Road, Nembe-Brass road, Bodo-Bonny road, and others.
Umahi said out of the ongoing NNPCL Tax Credit roads and bridge projects, the North has 53 percent, while the South has 47 percent, with the South East receiving just 4 percent and the South West 5 percent.
“President Tinubu did not complain about the unfair distribution of these inherited projects but has continued to fund them as inherited,” he explained.
He reiterated his readiness to face any public debate on the matter and invited anyone with contrary facts to present them openly.
“For emphasis, I challenge anyone with opposing facts to what I have presented on road projects to an open debate,” he declared.
He urged Nigerians to disregard Kwankwaso’s statement and appreciate the President’s commitment to fairness, equity, and national development.
“Mr President is not only fair in the continuation and completion of projects, but these projects also cut across major economic corridors of the nation,” Umahi added.
He, however, promised to release a comprehensive list of all inherited and ongoing projects above ₦20 billion in the coming week, saying, “In this circumstance, I don’t know where Sen. Kwankwaso got his misinformation.”
