Minister of Works, David Umahi, has called on a former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, to apologise to President Bola Tinubu for accusing the President of concentrating the nation’s resources on developing the southern part of Nigeria.

Umahi, who made the call in a statement while reacting to Kwankwaso’s comment, also urged Nigerians to ignore the former Kano governor’s statement, which he said was misleading.

“To my brother, Senator Kwankwaso, you owe our President Tinubu an apology and a duty to withdraw your statement using the information I have provided herein for the benefit of Nigerians and the unity of the nation,” the minister said in a statement that was posted on X by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Saturday.

“I request the good people of Nigeria to ignore Senator Kwankwaso’s misleading statement and know that President Tinubu is fairly committed to developing every part of this country with fairness, equity, and the fear of God,” he added.

Umahi said Kwankwaso’s comment was made “intentionally to deceive our brothers and sisters in the North and to pretend that he loves the North more than any other leader from the North”.

“I consider Senator Kwankwaso’s statement as a statement made out of desperation and as part of his struggle with a few others who believe that they can inherit the impeccable legacy of our dear late President  Muhammadu Buhari, and that the only way available for them towards achieving the same is to be divisive and pretentious.

“Trying to be like our late President Buhari cannot be a job of three decades and can not be done with deceit,” he said.

The former Ebonyi State governor also highlighted some of the key ongoing projects of Tinubu in the North, including the 1,068km Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway.

“As of today, we have 258 km ongoing at Kebbi section and 120 km ongoing at the Sokoto section. The total ongoing is 378km by six lanes or 756 km by three lanes in the North.

He said the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe Road, which is 439km, was being redesigned from flexible pavement to rigid pavement for a more durable pavement as directed by the President and to conform to the other legacy projects.

He added, “In the four legacy projects, the North has 52 per cent and the South 48 per cent. Within the ongoing projects as of today, the South has 409 km by three lanes and the North has 756km by three lanes.

“The facts are there. I wonder why people don’t talk about other legacy projects of Mr. President, but will always dwell on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. This road has only 220 km by three lanes in Lagos State, which is ongoing now.

“Cross River and Akwa Ibom have 130km by three lanes that is ongoing, whereas Kebbi alone has 316 km by three lanes that is ongoing. Sokoto has 240 km by three lanes that is ongoing. I think Senator Kwankwaso is not fair to Mr. President and the unity of our country.”

Umahi said the number of projects in the country showed that Tinubu is a fair President.

“I can say with all sense of responsibility that President Tinubu is a fair President. He has favoured the North in road development more than the South, especially the North West, where Senator Kwankwaso comes from,” he added.

While speaking on Thursday at the Kano State Stakeholders’ Dialogue on the 2025 Constitutional Amendment, Kwankwaso criticised Tinubu’s administration for what he described as the neglect of the northern region.

He said, “From the information available to us, it’s like most of the national budget is now tilting in one direction in this country.

“Let me advise those who are struggling by all means to take everything to remember that some of the issues that we have in this part of the country today have to do with the lack of enough resources and mismanagement of the little that comes in.

“That is why we have insecurity, we have poverty, and so on. It is happening here mainly, but like a desert, it would go everywhere.”