Tinubu has no plan to move Nigeria’s capital to Lagos — Bayo Onanuga

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on information and strategy, on Wednesday, said his principal has no plan to relocate the nation’s capital from Abuja, back to Lagos.

Onanuga, in a statement on his personal X-account (formerly Twitter), described insinuations that the President is trying to relocate the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) back to Lagos following relocation of some key departments of the CBN and FAAN as baseless.

Meanwhile, the recent plans by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) have elicited different reactions from Nigerians, including the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) among other northern groups. 

Tribune Online reports on Wednesday that Senator Ali Ndume, in an interview on Channels Television, faulted the plan to relocate units in the CBN to Lagos, stating Nigeria cant have two federal capitals.

But Onanuga, in a reaction, said movement of both FAAN and CBN units to Lagos does not amount to moving FCT to Lagos.

“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 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 no where else but near the industry it regulates. FAAN will still maintain some presence in Abuja, as it is not a wholesale movement,” he said.

Continuing, Tinubu’s aide added that the idea behind relocation of CBN unit to Lagos was due to the state being commercial capital, adding that “A regulator ought to be close to the businesses it regulates.”

He continued, “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.

“All those pushing this campaign of falsehood know they are 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. NIMASA is in Lagos. So is NPA. National Inland Waterways Authority( NIWA) is in Lokoja, not Abuja. Will the people opposing the movement of FAAN and some CBN departments want those agencies to be in Abuja, where there is no single port and no maritime activity?

“Administrative decisions should not be politicized. Let it not look like whenever we are temporarily not at the helm of affairs, we create all manners of dangerous rumours to distract from the bigger picture and emasculate an administration led by a southerner.

“Let’s stop the dirty politics. We can’t be playing  politics with everything.”