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From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, has called on the Federal Government to ensure that the 2025 Supplementary budget and 2026 Appropriation Bill captures the needs of the people of the Northeast.
This is just as he urged President Bola Tinubu to initiate Special Presidential Priority Projects in the North East to address decades of infrastructural neglect and social challenges in the zone.
He made the appeal in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday.
According to him, such projects had become necessary given the collapse of basic infrastructure across the six states of the region as a result of insurgency.
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His call followed Wednesday’s visit of the North East Governors to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, where they tabled 17 road projects and other critical demands before the Presidency.
The roads listed by the governors included Kano–Maiduguri Road, Port Harcourt–Jos–Bauchi–Maiduguri Railway line, Bama–Mubi–Yola Road, Wukari–Jalingo–Yola Road, Bauchi–Gombe–Biu–Damaturu Road, Damaturu–Geidam Road, Gombe–Potiskum Road, Maiduguri–Ngala–Bama–Banki Road, among others. They also urged the resumption of oil exploration at the Kolmani and Lake Chad frontier wells.
Commending the move by the North East Governors Forum, Ndume said the region deserved urgent federal intervention after over 15 years of stagnation.
“Fifteen years down the line, there hasn’t been any meaningful infrastructural development in the North East as it has been ravaged by insurgents,” he said. “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 grounds, contractors can now move to sites.”
He also charged the governors not to relent in promoting initiatives that would “make life better and meaningful” for citizens of the region.
