Senator Ali Ndume has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to grant final approval for proposed erosion-control projects worth ₦66bn across Southern Borno, including a ₦6bn intervention earmarked for the Aguza area.

Ndume said the projects had reached the final stage of the approval process, expressing optimism that the President would authorise them to proceed.

He disclosed this while addressing his constituents from Shani, where a college of Agriculture is to be sited when the bill receives concurrence from the House of Representatives.

He identified gully erosion as a major challenge facing communities across the region.

The senator said the proposed intervention would cover different local government areas in Southern Borno but did not provide a detailed breakdown of the allocations in his remarks.

“We are now at the last stage. We are waiting for the President’s final approval,” Ndume said, according to the available transcription.

He expressed hope that the projects would move forward once presidential approval was secured.

Ndume also called for cooperation among political leaders, arguing that partisan differences should not stand in the way of development projects that could improve the lives of their constituents.

He said political office should be about service rather than personal enrichment.

“I did not join politics to enrich myself. I joined politics to serve the people,” he said in remarks translated from Hausa.

The senator urged elected officials to prioritise public service, sacrifice and accountability over personal ambition and the pursuit of wealth.

He also criticised the use of young people to advance political interests without adequately preparing them for responsible leadership, calling for greater discipline and accountability in political participation.

Ndume’s appeal puts the proposed projects at a critical stage, with communities affected by erosion awaiting concrete action to address the problem.

However, the detailed allocation of funds across the affected local government areas, the implementation timeline, and the precise status of the presidential approval could not be independently verified from the available transcript.