Afenifere blasts Kwankwaso over claims of Northern marginalisation

By Boye Oyeyemi –

The pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has criticised Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso over his recent remarks accusing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration of marginalising the North.

In a statement released in Ondo by its National Organising Secretary, Otunba Kole Omololu, the group described the allegation as baseless, warning that such claims could deepen regional tensions and distort public perception.

According to Afenifere, “No region in Nigeria has benefitted more from federal presence in the past decade than the North.”

The group recalled that during the eight-year tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari, a share of national resources was channelled towards northern states.

It further pointed out that even the World Bank’s Managing Director confirmed Buhari’s administration gave directives for special interventions to be focused in the North.

Afenifere also highlighted infrastructure projects executed during Buhari’s era, such as the Kano-Maradi railway extending into the Niger Republic, contrasting it with the delay in completing southern projects like the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Second Niger Bridge, which only reached completion toward the end of Buhari’s government.

It also noted that the long-stalled Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline is currently receiving renewed attention under Tinubu’s leadership.

The group described Kwankwaso’s assertion as “alarmist rhetoric” that is unjust and portrays an inaccurate picture of southern bias, cautioning leaders to desist from utterances that could inflame ethnic sentiments and jeopardise national cohesion.