The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has rejected the road project approvals announced by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on November 6, 2025, alleging that the latest allocations amount to a “blatant, deliberate and coordinated marginalisation of Northern Nigeria.”
In a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi, the group said its review of the contract figures, regional breakdown and geopolitical spread reveals what it considers a recurring pattern of systemic bias that could not be dismissed as a mere lapse.
Referring to media reports in The Punch of November 7, 2025, and The Sun of November 9, 2025, CNG noted that the Tinubu administration had approved ₦1.047 trillion for new road contracts. The group, however, argued that the bulk of the funds were directed to Southern Nigeria—particularly the South-West—while the North was left with what it termed “barely measurable crumbs.”
Charanchi presented the regional distribution as follows: “South-West 789.82bn 75.4%; South-South 156bn – 14.9%; North-Central 43bn – 4.1%; North-West 30.23 bn 2.9%; South-East 28.47bn – 2.7%; North-East 0 – 0%. Regional Totals: Southern Nigeria Combined: ₦974.29 bn (93%); Northern Nigeria Combined: ₦73.23 bn ( 7%).”
He continued: “This 7% allocation to all 19 Northern states is not merely an imbalance it is a calculated act of economic sabotage deliberately designed to deepen regional inequality and suppress Northern development. Northern Nigeria hosts: The largest landmass; The longest federal road networks; The highest insecurity burden; The largest population centre.”
The coalition also accused the FEC of leaving out several major Northern highways in the new approvals, listing the Kano–Maiduguri, Abuja–Kaduna–Zaria, Makurdi–Jos, Bauchi–Gombe, Jibia–Sokoto and Bida–Minna routes among several others it said were deteriorating.
CNG cautioned that no government could deny development to an entire region and still expect stability or cooperation.
According to Charanchi, “This cannot be attributed to oversight. It is intentional underdevelopment and a continuation of a destructive trend. No government can deprive an entire region of development and still expect: Peace, Cooperation, Trust.
“A government cannot pump billions into a favoured region while turning the North into an infrastructural graveyard and expect 100 million Northern citizens to remain silent. The North has endured decades of deliberate neglect, exploitation, and structural isolation. Enough is enough.
“It is shameful indeed tragic that Northern ministers, governors, and legislators sat through such a lopsided sharing formula without raising a single objection. Their silence is betrayal. Their complacency strengthens the forces of injustice. If they cannot defend the North, they must step aside.”
The coalition insisted that the North would not accept what it described as a second-class position in the country.
CNG listed four demands: “A full review and rebalancing of the 6 November FEC allocations. A new legal and administrative framework guaranteeing equitable regional distribution of infrastructure funds.
“A state of emergency on long-abandoned Northern highways. Full transparency in contract design and justification to halt the emerging infrastructure colonisation of Nigeria by a single region.
“National unity cannot survive on injustice. Peace cannot be built on inequality. Nigeria cannot be stable when one region is excessively favoured while another is systematically strangled.”
The group warned that continued regional disparities in federal allocations would have “far-reaching and unavoidable” consequences, placing responsibility on those fueling the imbalance.
