The Presidency has said President Bola Tinubu’s government has no plan to move the nation’s capital to Lagos from Abuja.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who gave the clarification yesterday, explained that the recent controversy that had been sparked by moves by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, to relocate their departments from Abuja to Lagos had misrepresented the situation.
Onanuga said the movement of the FAAN to Lagos had nothing to do with moving the federal capital, adding that the conspiracy was fueled by ‘dishonest, ethnic and regional champions’
“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.
“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), which 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.”
He said the President Tinubu-led administration was 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.”