On Wednesday, the Presidency said that the Bola Tinubu administration had no intention of moving Nigeria’s Federal Capital back to Lagos, where it had previously been.
The insinuations were attributed to people it referred to as “mischief-makers,” who were determined to “fuel needless ethnic mistrust” in order to “pit the North against the South.”
This came after the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development’s direction to move the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria’s headquarters to Lagos and the Federal Government’s recent decision to move the Department of Banking Supervision of the Central Bank of Nigeria to Lagos.
Senators and young people from the North have voiced their disapproval of the action, claiming it was a planned attempt to undervalue the North.
The senator from Borno South, Ali Ndume, echoed the dissident voices from the North by claiming that President Tinubu was being misled to make poor decisions by “political cartels.”
In an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday, Ndume stated that “Lagos boys” were giving the President bad advice in the corridors of power and emphasized that the proposed relocation would have “political consequences.”
“The status of Abuja as the Federal Capital has come to stay. It is backed by law,” Onanuga, said,
It argued that the “rumours” were a creation of the administration’s political opponents who failed to prevent Tinubu’s ascent to the Presidency.
Onanuga said, “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 rumors, which originally arose during last year’s electioneering, were supported by political rivals who sought to use any means necessary to keep Asiwaju Tinubu from winning the presidency on behalf of a portion of the populace.
“Ethnic and regional champions who are dishonestly attempting to draw attention to themselves are the ones behind this renewed sordid narrative, using the recent decision of the CBN and FAAN as a pretext to start another round of toxic opposition.”
According to Onanuga, the Ministry of Aviation’s FAAN agency had its original headquarters in Lagos until former Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika relocated them to Abuja under the previous administration.
In a similar vein, the Presidency stated that the relocation of the CBN’s Department of Banking Supervision to Lagos “should not trigger any discord within the polity,” given that the department handles commercial banks, nearly all of which have their headquarters there.
On Wednesday, Senator Karimi Sunday, who represents Kogi-West, criticized Ndume for his remarks over the proposed transfer.
Ndume’s remark, according to Karimi, was personal and in no way represented the Senate’s viewpoint.
Karimi said in a statement made available to reporters in Abuja on Wednesday that Ndume shouldn’t be attaching any ethnic or other sentiments to the offices’ move because it was done “for cohesion and better delivery of services.”