Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, Dr. Paul Unongo, and a Second Republic lawmaker, Junaid Mohammed have dismissed the impression that President Muhammadu Buhari was favouring the North more than other parts of the country, ThisDay reports.
They noted that the statements were capable of breeding disunity.
Unongo who was a Second Republic Minister of Steel, said the Buhari administration has been fair to all the six geo-political zones of the country.
He noted that those still crying marginalisation are those agitating for disintegration, particularly the South-East.
The NEF chairman said, “It is not possible to say that Buhari is favouring the North to the detriment of other regions.
“The North occupies over 80 per cent of the total landmass of Nigeria and it has the population as well. If everything was given to the North proportionate to its size and population, it wouldn’t be so backward the way it is today.”
On his part, Mohammed, said those saying that Buhari is president of the North and not the president of Nigeria, should go to hell.
He said, “I believe in assessing a man, particularly a politician like Buhari, you assess him not only on what he says, but on what he does.
“If you look at the cabinet, it is clear that most of the important assignments (portfolios) went to the South, particularly the South-West. They have Finance, Health, Power/Works/Housing and Communication.
“So, for anybody who is rational, that statement made about Buhari asking World Bank to concentrate its activities in the North was false.
“In fact, if you move ahead and you assess his words and deeds, you will find out that Buhari hasn’t done anything to advance the interest of the North in any way whatsoever.
“The infrastructure projects that have been carried out in the last two and half years are the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway; the Second Niger Bridge at Asaba; the ongoing East/West Road; the rail project from Lagos to Calabar. Go and check them out.
“These are the key projects of this administration and none of them is in the North.
