Senate Chief Whip Ali Ndume has called on President Bola Tinubu to initiate Special Presidential Priority Projects in the North-East, to tackle decades of neglect and reverse the effects of insurgency on the region’s infrastructure.
Gatekeepers News reports that in a statement released in Abuja on Thursday, Ndume commended the six North-East governors for their “bold and coordinated intervention” during their recent visit to the Presidential Villa, where they presented a list of abandoned projects requiring urgent federal attention.
Special Presidential Priority Projects are high-impact national schemes requiring dedicated funding due to their strategic importance. During the Villa meeting, Borno State Governor and North-East Governors’ Forum (NEGF) chairman, Babagana Zulum, highlighted 17 key roads that had been left unattended for years. These include the Kano–Maiduguri Road, Port Harcourt–Jos–Bauchi–Maiduguri railway line, Bama–Mubi–Yola Road, Wukari–Jalingo–Yola Road, Bauchi–Gombe–Biu–Damaturu Road, and Damaturu–Biu Road among others.
The governors also urged the federal government to resume oil exploration in the frontier basins, particularly at the Kolmani and Lake Chad wells.
Ndume noted that over 15 years of insurgency had caused “near-total infrastructural collapse” in the region. He said the improved security situation now makes it possible for contractors to return to project sites.
“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,” Ndume said. “Now that insurgents have receded as a result of efforts by our military who have regained lost grounds, contractors can now move to sites.”
The senator urged Tinubu to also reflect these priorities in the 2026 budget, stressing the need for urgent investment in roads, railways, and other critical infrastructure to revive economic activities and improve lives across the North-East. He further encouraged the governors to keep initiating programmes that would “bring relief and restore dignity” to citizens in the zone.
