Political commentator Mohammed Bello Doka has criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over what he described as the administration’s neglect of Kaduna State amid persistent insecurity, deadly attacks, abductions and devastating natural disasters, questioning what the President intends to promise residents as the All Progressives Congress prepares for the 2027 presidential campaign.
In a hard-hitting opinion article dated Sunday, October 11, 2026, titled “Projects in Lagos, Campaign in Kaduna Amid Insecurity: What Will Tinubu Promise Now?”, Doka accused Tinubu of failing to demonstrate sufficient compassion and personal concern for victims of violence and disasters in Kaduna, while highlighting major infrastructure projects commissioned in Lagos.
Doka recalled the December 3, 2023, military drone strike on Tudun Biri in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, which killed at least 85 civilians gathered for a religious celebration. He noted that women, children and elderly people were among the victims, accusing Tinubu of failing to visit the affected community.
He also cited a September 2024 military airstrike in Giwa Local Government Area that reportedly killed at least 24 civilians in what the military described as a mistaken targeting of bandits, as well as the September 2025 abduction of 152 people in a single bandit attack in Kachia Local Government Area.
According to Doka, Tinubu did not visit the affected communities following those incidents.
The commentator further recalled that windstorms and heavy rainfall devastated five local government areas in Kaduna State in July 2025, displacing 6,172 people and killing six, while floods in parts of Zaria Local Government Area in September 2025 affected 476 people.
He also referenced an August 2024 bandit attack in Kajuru Local Government Area, in which four people were killed, three injured and 37 abducted, arguing that the President’s absence from the affected communities raised questions about the administration’s response to the suffering of Kaduna residents.
Doka said the APC’s reported decision to use Kaduna as the launchpad for its 2027 presidential campaign was particularly troubling given the state’s history of insecurity and civilian casualties.
He asked: “What exactly is Tinubu coming to tell the people of Kaduna? What is he coming to promise again?”
The writer argued that the decision to campaign in the state should be accompanied by accountability for the security challenges confronting its residents, rather than another round of political promises.
Doka claimed that since assuming office on May 29, 2023, Tinubu had visited Kaduna only twice: first, on a one-day working visit in June 2025 to commission a vocational training institute, a 300-bed specialist hospital and 100 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses; and later, in September 2025, on a private visit to attend a wedding and offer condolences to the widow of a former president.
He maintained that neither visit was specifically intended to console victims of the Tudun Biri airstrike, meet families of those abducted in Kachia, assess the aftermath of the Giwa airstrike, visit flood victims in Zaria or engage directly with communities affected by the Kajuru attack.
“Two visits in three and a half years,” Doka wrote, arguing that the President’s visits had not adequately addressed the concerns of communities affected by violence and disasters.
He added: “Not one of those visits was to console the victims of Tudun Biri. Not one was to visit the families of the 152 abducted in Kachia. Not one was to assess the damage in Giwa after another military misfire. Not one was to stand with the flood victims in Zaria. Not one was to confront the bandits in Kajuru.”
The article then contrasted what Doka described as Tinubu’s attention to infrastructure development in Lagos with the security and humanitarian challenges facing Kaduna.
He cited the commissioning of the first 30 kilometres of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, a project he estimated at more than ₦1 trillion; the rehabilitation of the Third Mainland Bridge at a reported cost of ₦43 billion; and the construction of a ₦2.5 billion CCTV monitoring centre.
Doka also referenced the inauguration of the 37-kilometre Lagos Red Line Rail project, which he valued at more than $135 million, alongside CNG infrastructure commissioned in Ojota as part of a reported ₦100 billion national rollout.
He further contrasted the projects with federal road infrastructure spending, claiming that the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road project, inherited from the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, was revoked and re-awarded at a higher cost, while ₦43 billion was allocated to Phase Two of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Summing up his criticism, Doka wrote: “Lagos is where the president’s heart beats. Kaduna is where his promises go to die.”
He argued that the President’s planned campaign engagement in Kaduna would invite difficult questions about the government’s record on security, its response to victims of military operations and bandit attacks, and the balance between infrastructure development and the protection of lives.
