The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Dr. Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi, has pushed back against claims that the North is being sidelined under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, saying more than half of the capital budget for 2024 and 2025 is going to projects in the region.
His comments come in response to recent criticism from prominent Northern figures. Former Kano State governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, had accused the Tinubu government of neglecting the North in terms of infrastructure development. Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum’s Board of Trustees, Bashir Dalhatu, also voiced similar concerns.
But Dr. Yakubu Kurfi disagreed with them. “Contrary to politically motivated narratives, Northern Nigeria is not on the margins; it is at the heart of federal investment priorities,” he said.
He described the allegations of marginalisation as “unfounded,” arguing that the administration is deliberately channelling resources toward balanced development across the country. “Over 50% of the capital budget for 2024 and 2025 is traceable to projects and programmes in the North when major national trunk infrastructure and water basin investments are properly accounted for,” he said.
Kurfi pointed to several ongoing infrastructure projects as evidence, including the dualisation of the Abuja–Kano expressway, and the N12.1 trillion Sokoto–Badagry superhighway — a massive 1,068-kilometre road linking multiple regions, with N3.63 trillion already approved for early stages in Sokoto and Kebbi states.
He also listed other major federal projects such as the Kano–Maradi standard gauge railway, the Zungeru–Kano power transmission line, and the expansion of airport runways in Katsina, Maiduguri, and Kaduna.
“These projects show that the North is not being left behind,” he said.
