The senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, has urged President Bola Tinubu to initiate special priority projects in the North-East.
Ndume warned that the zone risked being left behind if its pressing infrastructure needs were not urgently addressed.
His call followed Wednesday’s visit by the six governors of the North-East to the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Led by the Chairman of the North-East Governors’ Forum and Borno State Governor, Prof Babagana Zulum, the governors presented a list of abandoned federal road projects in the region.
At the meeting, Zulum highlighted no fewer than 17 major road networks he said had suffered decades of neglect.
In a statement made available to journalists on Friday, Ndume urged Tinubu to make special provisions for the region in the forthcoming 2025 supplementary budget as well as the 2026 budget proposal.
While commending the governors for their bold stance, he lamented that basic infrastructure across the six states of the North-East had remained in a state of near-collapse for over 15 years due largely to the Boko Haram insurgency and related security challenges.
“Fifteen years down the line, there hasn’t been any meaningful infrastructural development in the North-East as it has been ravaged by the insurgents. 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 ground, contractors can now move to sites,” he said.
Ndume added that the North-East, which has been the epicentre of insurgency for more than a decade, deserved special attention from the Federal Government.
He also urged the governors of the region to sustain pressure on the Federal Government and continue designing people-focused policies that would make life meaningful for the citizens.
