Umahi to Kwankwaso: Apologise to President Tinubu Over False Claims

Minister of Works, David Umahi, has demanded an apology from former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, over claims that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is concentrating development projects in southern Nigeria at the expense of the North.

Reacting to Kwankwaso’s remarks in a strongly worded statement, Umahi said the comments were not only misleading but also intended to deceive northerners.

“To my brother, Senator Kwankwaso, you owe our President Tinubu an apology and a duty to withdraw your statement using the information I have provided herein for the benefit of Nigerians and the unity of the nation,” the minister stated in a message shared on X by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Saturday.

He also appealed to the public to dismiss the former governor’s remarks. “I request the good people of Nigeria to ignore Senator Kwankwaso’s misleading statement and know that President Tinubu is fairly committed to developing every part of this country with fairness, equity, and the fear of God,” Umahi added.

The former governor of Ebonyi State accused Kwankwaso of using emotional manipulation to score political points in the North. “I consider Senator Kwankwaso’s statement as a statement made out of desperation and as part of his struggle with a few others who believe that they can inherit the impeccable legacy of our dear late President Muhammadu Buhari, and that the only way available for them towards achieving the same is to be divisive and pretentious,” Umahi said.

He added, “Trying to be like our late President Buhari cannot be a job of three decades and cannot be done with deceit.”

Highlighting the ongoing infrastructure developments in the North, Umahi cited the 1,068km Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway as a major example of Tinubu’s balanced national development agenda.

“As of today, we have 258 km ongoing at Kebbi section and 120 km ongoing at the Sokoto section. The total ongoing is 378km by six lanes or 756 km by three lanes in the North,” he said.

He also revealed that the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe road, measuring 439km, was being upgraded to a rigid pavement structure on President Tinubu’s directive.

“In the four legacy projects, the North has 52 per cent and the South 48 per cent. Within the ongoing projects as of today, the South has 409 km by three lanes and the North has 756km by three lanes,” he explained.

“The facts are there. I wonder why people don’t talk about other legacy projects of Mr. President, but will always dwell on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. This road has only 220 km by three lanes in Lagos State, which is ongoing now.

“Cross River and Akwa Ibom have 130km by three lanes that is ongoing, whereas Kebbi alone has 316 km by three lanes that is ongoing. Sokoto has 240 km by three lanes that is ongoing. I think Senator Kwankwaso is not fair to Mr. President and the unity of our country.”

Umahi concluded by reaffirming President Tinubu’s even-handedness in resource allocation. “I can say with all sense of responsibility that President Tinubu is a fair President. He has favoured the North in road development more than the South, especially the North West, where Senator Kwankwaso comes from,” he said.

Kwankwaso had earlier criticised the administration at the Kano State Stakeholders’ Dialogue on the 2025 Constitutional Amendment, alleging that the bulk of the national budget is being channelled in one direction.

He said, “From the information available to us, it’s like most of the national budget is now tilting in one direction in this country.

“Let me advise those who are struggling by all means to take everything to remember that some of the issues that we have in this part of the country today have to do with the lack of enough resources and mismanagement of the little that comes in.

“That is why we have insecurity, we have poverty, and so on. It is happening here mainly, but like a desert, it would go everywhere.”