North-east governors have accused the federal government of short-changing the region with the proposed N45.32 billion for capital projects in the 2021 budget.
The governors under auspices of the North-east Governors Forum (NEGF) said the proposed amount was too small in view of the infrastructure deficit in the region and called for its review.
Rising from their third meeting in Yola, the Adamawa state capital, on Thursday, the Forum, which comprised governors of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states, also alleged that the sub-region was unfairly treated in the provision of roads infrastructure by the Federal Ministry of Works & Housing.
The governors, in a communiqué jointly issued at the end of the meeting, said: “Forum notes with dismay, that despite the challenges of development especially the infrastructure deficit in the North-east, the 2021 proposed budget makes provision for only N45.32 billion for capital projects in the sub-region.
“This represents a paltry 0.35% of the proposed N13.02 trillion. This means that the North-east is highly short changed. Forum demands the National Assembly to review the 2021 budget in the spirit of equity and inclusion. It equally mandates the North-east caucus of both the Senate and House of Representative to take immediate steps to redress this imbalance.
“Forum notes that the Sub-region has been unfairly treated in the provision of road infrastructure by the Federal Ministry of Works & Housing. It further notes with dismay the slow or outright non- existent progress on the pace of the roads already allocated in the sub-region and calls for the immediate reactivation and review of the comatose existing road contracts in the sub-region.”
The Forum lamented the non-budgetary provision for the Mambilla Hydro Project in the 2021 budget and urged the federal government to make the project a priority.
“The Forum notes with dismay, the lack of budgetary provision in respect of the Mambilla Hydro Project in the 2021 Budgetary Proposals and calls on the federal government to make the project a matter of serious priority, resolve all encumbrances around the project and order action on site.”
