PRESIDENT
TINUBU HAS NO PLAN TO RELOCATE FEDERAL CAPITAL TO LAGOS
We have noticed how mischief-makers, bent on fueling needless
ethnic mistrust, have deliberately misinterpreted the decision of the Central
Bank of Nigeria to relocate its Department of Banking Supervision to Lagos and
the directive of the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development that the
Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria(FAAN) should relocate its head office back
to Lagos.
We consider it necessary to inform Nigerians that there is no iota
of truth in the interpretations given to the directives in some quarters and
the unfounded claims and rumours that President Bola Tinubu is planning to
relocate the Federal Capital back to Lagos.
These rumours, which first surfaced during the electioneering last
year, was sponsored by political opponents looking for all manners of weapons
to prevent Asiwaju Tinubu from being elected as president by a section of the
country.
Those behind this renewed sordid narrative, using the recent
decision of the CBN and FAAN as pretext to start another round of toxic
opposition are dishonest ethnic and regional champions, trying to draw
attention to themselves.
The status of Abuja as the Federal Capital has come to stay. It is
backed by law.
The movement of FAAN, an agency of Aviation Ministry, to Lagos,
where it was located before former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, moved it
to Abuja during the last administration, does not amount to moving the Federal
Capital to Lagos.
The administrative move should have ordinarily attracted scant
attention, as Lagos is the commercial capital and the hub of aviation business
in Nigeria. FAAN will still maintain some presence in Abuja. It is not a
wholesale movement.
Similarly, the movement of the Department of Banking Supervision
of the CBN to Lagos should not trigger any discord within the polity. The
department concerned deals with commercial banks, almost all of which have
their headquarters in Lagos.
All those pushing this campaign of falsehood and misinformation
know they are merely playing politics, albeit a dangerous politics, to pit the
North against the South.
There are many parastatals that are not based in Abuja depending
on their mandate. The headquarters of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and
Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), for example, are in
Lagos. In the same vein, the headquarters of National Inland Waterways
Authority( NIWA) is in Lokoja, while that of the Nigerian Content Development
and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), was commissioned by former President Muhammadu
Buhari is in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
It must be pointed out that these decisions are purely
administrative that should not be politicized by people of goodwill and those
who wish our country well.
President Tinubu-led administration is working tirelessly to be
just and equitable to every section of the country. We urge restraint on the
part of those whose stock in trade is to create all manner of dangerous rumours
to distract every government from the noble objective of meeting the yearnings
and aspirations of Nigerians.
Our citizens desire nothing but good governance that positively
impacts their lives. Rumour mongering is a pernicious disservice to this
ultimate expectation of our people.
Bayo
Onanuga
Special
Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy
January 24, 2024
