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Lastest News Nigeria, Politics, Business, Sport, Interview
Babatunji Wusu –
The president does not intend to relocate the federal capital from Abuja to Lagos, according to Bayo Onanuga, Special Advisor to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy.
He argues that the current debate has been distorted and is the result of CBN and FAAN moving their divisions from Abuja to Lagos.
He contends that “dishonest, ethnic and regional champions” are fueling the conspiracy and that the FAAN’s relocation to Lagos has nothing to do with the federal capital’s relocation.
He wrote: “transferring the Aviation Ministry’s FAAN section to Lagos, where it was housed prior to former Minister Hadi Sirika transferring it to Abuja during the previous government, does not equate to moving the Federal Capital Territory to Lagos.
Given that Lagos is Nigeria’s commercial capital and the center of the country’s aviation industry, little attention should have been paid to the administrative decision. Only in close proximity to the industry it oversees should FAAN be located.
FAAN is not a mass movement, thus it will continue to have a presence in Abuja.
In regards to the CBN’s relocation, he wrote: “In a similar vein, there should be no fanfare about the relocation of certain CBN departments to Lagos. The departments in question, which deal with commercial banks and all have their headquarters in Lagos, include the department responsible for bank oversight. A regulator should have a tight relationship with the companies it oversees.
According to their mandate, a large number of parastatals are not headquartered in Abuja, he claimed.
According to their mission, several parastatals are not headquartered in Abuja, Onanuga continued. Lagos is home to NIMASA. NPA is also. Not in Abuja, but in Lokoja is the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA). Are those who oppose the relocation of FAAN and certain CBN divisions hoping that these organizations will be located in Abuja, where there isn’t a single port and no marine activity?
