Senator Ali Ndume, former Senate Leader and current representative of Borno South, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to initiate Special Presidential Priority Projects in Nigeria’s North-East region to address critical infrastructure decay that has plagued the zone for over 15 years.
In a statement released in Abuja on Friday, Ndume threw his weight behind the recent advocacy by the North-East Governors Forum, which met with President Tinubu earlier in the week.
The forum, led by Borno State Governor Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum, highlighted 17 major roads and transport corridors across the region that have remained in disrepair, some for decades.
He said, “These are not regular projects. These are national priorities. The infrastructure in our region is comatose due to over a decade of insecurity caused by insurgents.
“Now that the military has regained ground, contractors can return to sites, and development must resume in full force.”
Among the key infrastructural projects tabled before the president were:
The Kano-Maiduguri Road; the Port Harcourt–Jos–Bauchi–Maiduguri Railway Line; the Bama–Mubi–Yola and Wukari–Jalingo–Yola Roads and the Bauchi–Gombe–Biu–Damaturu Corridor
They also included the Maiduguri–Ngala–Bama–Banki Road and several others.
Ndume emphasized that the North-East has suffered from systemic neglect exacerbated by insurgency, but now presents an opportunity for recovery and reinvestment.
He urged the federal government to reflect the region’s needs in both the 2025 Supplementary Budget and the 2026 fiscal proposal.
“The President must act with urgency. The North-East deserves more than empathy, we need action, and we need it embedded in the national budget,” he insisted.
The governors also used their meeting with the president to press for the resumption of oil exploration activities in the Kolmani and Lake Chad frontier basins, projects that could further drive economic recovery in the region.
Senator Ndume commended the governors for their bold engagement and urged them to continue championing sustainable development initiatives that would restore dignity and economic life to the region’s citizens.
“The people of the North-East have endured enough. It is time to rebuild,” he concluded.
