Tinubu has not abandoned North, TMSG tells critics
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Tinubu has not abandoned North, TMSG tells critics
By Alabidun Shuaib AbdulRahman
The Tinubu Media Support Group, TMSG has rejected claims that the administration of President Bola Tinubu has neglected Northern Nigeria in the distribution of infrastructure projects.
The group said the North had benefited substantially from the administration through infrastructure development and strategic political appointments.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Emeka Nwankpa, and Secretary, Dapo Okubanjo, TMSG said the administration had continued several projects inherited from the late President Muhammadu Buhari while also embarking on new projects across the region.
The group said the $2.8bn, 614-kilometre Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline was among the major inherited projects recording significant progress under Tinubu.
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It said the project was about 95 per cent complete as of August 2026, attributing the progress to Tinubu’s directive to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to resolve bottlenecks delaying its completion.
TMSG said the AKK pipeline was designed to transport gas to industrial clusters in Northern Nigeria and help revive industries along the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano corridor.
“This, more than anything, shows a clear intent to ensure the speedy completion of the AKK gas pipeline, which was designed primarily to revive dormant industries along the corridor from Ajaokuta to Kano as part of President Tinubu’s vision,” it said.
The group also cited the Kano-Maradi and Kaduna-Kano railway projects as evidence of the administration’s commitment to infrastructure development in the region.
According to TMSG, the Kaduna-Kano railway line is expected to be completed in December 2026, while the 284-kilometre Kano-Daura-Katsina section of the Kano-Maradi project is also expected to be commissioned in December.
It added that the government had stated that the remaining section from Nigeria across the border to Maradi, Niger Republic, would be completed in 2027.
The group further listed the 1,068-kilometre Sokoto-Badagry Super Highway among major projects initiated by the Tinubu administration.
It described the highway as a major trans-regional economic corridor linking Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Oyo and Lagos states.
TMSG also cited the ongoing reconstruction of the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano dual carriageway using reinforced concrete pavement technology and the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe road project.
The group said the projects formed part of more than 40 million ongoing projects in Northern Nigeria, including healthcare interventions.
It specifically mentioned expansions and upgrades at major health institutions such as the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, as well as interventions involving more than 1,000 primary healthcare centres across the region.
TMSG further said Tinubu had approved more than N2tn for intra-city light rail projects in Kano and Kaduna as part of efforts to modernise public transportation in the North.
The group also pointed to projects being implemented by the North-East Development Commission, saying the commission had announced projects worth more than N1.5tn across the geopolitical zone.
“We are convinced that similar projects are going on in the other Commissions in Northern Nigeria, which were all established by the President Tinubu administration,” it said.
TMSG urged Northerners to disregard claims that the Federal Government had abandoned the region.
It accused those spreading such claims of attempting to distort facts for political purposes.
“Any person or group peddling such misinformation that the Tinubu administration has abandoned the North is not only being dishonest but playing politics of deceit to twist facts and mislead the people,” the group said.
