Ndume Urges Tinubu to Prioritise Northeast Projects in Supplementary Budget
Former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to prioritise critical infrastructure projects in the North-East as part of the 2025 supplementary budget.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, Ndume stressed that the region, which has suffered years of destruction from insurgency, risks further marginalisation if its development needs are not urgently addressed.
“Fifteen years down the line, there hasn’t been any meaningful infrastructural development in the North-East as it has been ravaged by insurgents. Now that the military has regained lost ground, contractors can return to sites. The present administration should make urgent provision for the region in the 2025 supplementary budget and the 2026 proposal,” he said.
His call followed Wednesday’s meeting between President Tinubu and governors of the North-East, led by Borno State Governor and Forum Chairman, Prof Babagana Zulum, at the Presidential Villa. The governors presented a long list of abandoned federal road projects, lamenting decades of neglect.
Among the highlighted roads were the Kano–Maiduguri Road, Port Harcourt–Jos–Bauchi–Maiduguri Railway line, Bama–Mubi–Yola Road, Wukari–Jalingo–Yola Road, Bauchi–Gombe–Biu–Damaturu Road, and Maiduguri–Monguno–Baga Road. Others included the Damaturu–Geidam Road, Bauchi–Ningi–Nasaru–Babaldo Road, Gombe–Potiskum Road, Damaturu–Biu Road, Ibi–Shamdam Road, and the Maiduguri–Ngala–Bama–Banki corridor.
Ndume commended the governors for their united stance but lamented that infrastructure across the six states of the North-East has been in near-collapse for over 15 years. He emphasised that the zone, being the epicentre of insurgency for more than a decade, deserves special intervention from the Federal Government.
