Presidency warns those playing ‘dirty politics’ with CBN, FAAN relocation

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu said this in a statement to counter the claim that the president plans to return the FCT to Lagos.

While commenting on the planned relocation of certain departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) from Abuja to Lagos, Ali Ndume, the Senator representing Borno South Senatorial District, claimed that the move is akin to relocating the FCT to Lagos.

Ndume, who spoke during an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, argued that regulators of financial institutions should be in Abuja, not Lagos.

“We only have one Federal Capital and that is Abuja.

“The regulators of the financial institutions are supposed to be or are in Abuja. Do you want them to move back because you say Lagos is the commercial capital? he queried.

Replying, the presidency called on those spreading rumours about the alleged plan to relocate the FCT to Lagos to stop playing politics with everything.

The presidency said Tinubu has no plan to move the FCT to Lagos, adding that Abuja has come to stay because it's establishment is backed by the constitution.

The statement reads in part, “President Tinubu has no plan whatsoever to move the Federal Capital to Lagos. The rumour first surfaced during the campaign last year by opponents looking for all manners of weapons to stop him. We trashed it. 

“Those peddling it anew are dishonest, ethnic and regional champions, trying to draw attention to themselves. Abuja has come to stay. It is backed by law.”

The presidency clarified that the planned relocation of the CBN and FAAN departments to Lagos does not amount to moving the FCT to Lagos.

It further explained that the relocation of the departments is for administrative convenience because Lagos is the commercial capital and the hub of aviation business in Nigeria.

“The movement of FAAN, a department of Aviation Ministry to Lagos, where it was based before former minister Hadi Sirika moved it to Abuja during the last administration, does not amount to moving the FCT to Lagos. The administrative move should have attracted scant attention, as Lagos is the commercial capital and the hub of aviation business in Nigeria.

“FAAN should be nowhere else but near the industry it regulates. FAAN will still maintain some presence in Abuja, as it is not a wholesale movement. Similarly, the movement of some departments of the CBN to Lagos should not trigger any hoopla. 

“The departments concerned, including the bank supervision department, are those dealing with commercial banks, all with headquarters in Lagos. A regulator ought to be close to the businesses it regulates,” the statement reads.

The presidency, therefore, advised those pushing campaigns of falsehood not to pitch the North against the South.