The Presidency has refuted the insinuations that President Bola Tinubu intends to move the national capital back to Lagos State.
The speculations arose after the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, announced plans to decongest its head office in Abuja by relocating some of its departments to Lagos.
The departments selected for relocation by the CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso are the Banking Supervision Department; Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department, Consumer Protection Department; Payment System Management Department and Financial Policy Regulations Department.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, also made a similar announcement, saying its headquarters would be moved from Abuja to Lagos.
The special adviser to the President on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga said, in a statement, that “there is no iota of truth” in the claims that the twin developments are Tinubu’s plan to make Lagos the capital city of Nigeria.
Onanuga’s statement partly reads: “The status of Abuja as the Federal Capital has come to stay. It is backed by law.”
“The movement of FAAN, an agency of the 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 put the North against the South.”
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