The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, has disclosed the region that gets the lion’s share of federal government projects.
Yakubu explained that, contrary to popular opinion, Lagos does not receive the largest share of the country’s projects.
He disclosed that the North West region is the largest beneficiary of President Tinubu’s federal project approvals.
Yakubu dismissed the narrative that Lagos received ₦3.9 trillion worth of projects, describing it as misleading and politically motivated.
In a statement titled “Northwest: The Lion’s Share of Tinubu’s Projects,” the DG explained that only ₦1.2 trillion were Lagos-specific projects, such as airport fencing, Carter Bridge rehabilitation, and other localised upgrades.
The remaining ₦2.7 trillion, he explained, are national infrastructure projects, particularly highways and transport corridors that pass through Lagos but serve the entire federation.
“By that logic, the Kano–Maiduguri expressway could just as easily be called a Maiduguri-only project. Such sleight of hand ignores a central truth: these are not local trophies. They are the arteries of a national economy,” Yakubu said.
He provided the regional distribution of projects as follows: North West: ₦5.97 trillion (over 40% of all approvals); South South: ₦2.41 trillion; North Central: ₦1.13 trillion; South East: ₦407 billion; North East: ₦400 billion; South West (excluding Lagos): ₦604 billion and Lagos (exclusive projects): ₦1.2 trillion.
Yakubu noted that the figures leave no doubt that the North West, and not Lagos, holds the lion’s share of projects under the Tinubu administration.
The Budget Office DG urged Nigerians to stop viewing infrastructure as sectional “trophies” or “rewards” for regions, insisting that roads, railways, and power plants are national assets designed to connect Nigeria’s economy and people.
“The farmer in Katsina needs a market in Lagos. The trader in Aba depends on goods flowing through Kano. The student in Sokoto requires the national grid as much as her counterpart in Port Harcourt. Federal projects must be understood as national investments designed to connect Nigeria to itself, and ultimately to the world,” he explained.
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