The pan-Yoruba sociopolitical group, Afenifere, has strongly criticized former Kano State Governor and New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) presidential candidate, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, over his recent claims that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is marginalizing the North and favoring the South in the distribution of national resources.
In a statement signed by its National Organising Secretary, Otunba Kole Omololu, Afenifere described Kwankwaso’s comments as “grossly misleading and deliberately incendiary,” accusing the former minister of stoking regional tensions with unfounded allegations.
“Kwankwaso, as a former governor and federal minister, should speak based on facts, not sectional emotions,” Omololu stated. “No region in Nigeria benefited more from federal patronage in the last decade than the North. The Buhari administration, which Kwankwaso conveniently overlooks, disproportionately directed critical national resources to northern Nigeria. The World Bank even disclosed that President Buhari instructed them to focus interventions in the North.”
The group cited examples such as the Kano-Maradi railway project, which extended into Niger Republic, as emblematic of lopsided development under Buhari, while critical southern projects like the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Second Niger Bridge suffered delays.
Afenifere argued that under Tinubu’s administration, significant federal projects are already underway in the North, including the dualisation of major highways and the acceleration of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline.
“Just weeks ago, President Tinubu approved billions for infrastructure in Katsina, Borno, and Niger States. Kwankwaso’s rhetoric is not only unfair but dangerous, creating a false narrative of southern bias,” Omololu added.
He urged national leaders to avoid inflammatory remarks and instead support inclusive governance: “We must rise above ethnic saboteurs and sectional agitators masquerading as patriots. Let statesmen, not ethnic lords, shape the conversation.”
