Former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, on Friday called on President Bola Tinubu to initiate special priority projects in the North-East in the 2025 supplementary budget.
In a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, Ndume urged Tinubu to make special provisions for the region in the forthcoming 2025 supplementary budget as well as the 2026 budget proposal.
While stressing that the move is important, the senator representing Borno South warned that the zone risks being left behind if its pressing infrastructure 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 the insurgents.
“In view of this, I suggest that the present administration should give priority to the region and make provision for its urgent infrastructural needs in the 2025 Supplementary Budget.
“Now that insurgents have receded as a result of efforts by our military, who have regained lost ground, contractors can now move to sites,” he said.
His appeal followed Wednesday’s visit by the six governors of the North-East to Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The governors, led by Borno State Governor and Chairman of the North-East Governors’ Forum, Prof Babagana Zulum, tabled a long list of abandoned federal road projects in the region.
At the meeting, Zulum highlighted no fewer than 17 major road networks that he lamented had suffered decades of neglect.
They included 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 the Maiduguri-Monguno-Baga Road.
Others were 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, while commending the governors for their bold stance, lamented that basic infrastructure across the six states of the North-East has remained in a state of near-collapse for over 15 years, largely due to the Boko Haram insurgency and related security challenges.
According to him, the North-East, which has been the epicentre of insurgency for more than a decade, deserves special attention from the Federal Government.
The senator further admonished the governors of the zone to sustain their pressure on the Federal Government and continue designing people-focused policies that would make life meaningful for the citizens.
Ndume urges Tinubu to prioritise Northeast projects in supplementary budget
