The Senate was thrown into heated debate on Tuesday as Senator Danjuma Goje raised a motion lamenting the glaring imbalance in the allocation of funds for road and infrastructure projects across the country.
Goje, representing Gombe Central, decried the exclusion of the Northeast from the Federal Government’s flagship Renewed Hope Super-Highway Projects, which are valued at a staggering ₦4.2 trillion. According to him, while other regions have multiple projects running into hundreds of billions of naira, the entire Northeast has been left with only two projects worth a paltry ₦19 billion.
The projects include the Yola–Fufore–Gurin Road in Adamawa State, budgeted at ₦11.81 billion, and the Karim Lamido Road in Taraba State, estimated at ₦7.68 billion. Goje argued that such allocation was not only unfair but also placed the region at a disadvantage, despite its dire infrastructural needs.
His motion comes against the backdrop of recent Federal Executive Council approvals of massive infrastructure funding in Lagos. The government has already earmarked ₦712 billion for the comprehensive rehabilitation of the Terminal One section of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, covering apron expansion, runway upgrades, and perimeter fencing.
Similarly, the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos is at the center of another colossal project, with rehabilitation and rebuilding estimates ranging between ₦3.6 trillion and ₦3.8 trillion. Although no contract has yet been awarded, the Minister of Works, David Umahi, disclosed that proposals are being reviewed under the EPC+F (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Financing) model.
Observers say Goje’s intervention underscores a broader concern about equity in project distribution under the current administration. Many Northerners have long complained that the region suffers neglect in terms of road networks and federal presence, even though it remains one of the most vulnerable to insecurity and underdevelopment.
The motion has rekindled calls for a more balanced approach to infrastructure development, ensuring that all six geopolitical zones receive fair and just treatment in federal spending.
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