Stop playing politics, Tinubu has no plan to relocate FCT to Lagos — Onanuga

Following widespread controversies generated by the directives to relocate the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) headquarters and some departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Lagos, the Presidency has denied rumours of a purported move to relocate the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to Lagos.

The Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga on Wednesday made the denial.

According to him, “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 the 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 nowhere else but near the industry it regulates. FAAN will still maintain some presence in Abuja, as it is not a wholesale movement.”

The Special Adviser added that 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.”

He warned that “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. The 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 politicised. 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,” he said.