The presidency has described as mischief-makers those who have deliberately misinterpreted the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria to relocate its Department of Banking Supervision to Lagos and the directive of the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development that the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) should relocate its head office to Lagos.
It chided the persons as being bent on fueling needless ethnic mistrust.
A statement by special adviser to the president on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the Tinubu administration consider it necessary to inform Nigerians that there is no iota of truth in the interpretations given to the directives in some quarters and the unfounded claims and rumours that President Tinubu is planning to relocate the Federal Capital to Lagos.
He said these rumours, which first surfaced during the electioneering last year, were sponsored by political opponents looking for all manner of weapons to prevent Tinubu from being elected as president by a section of the country.
He further explained that using the recent decision of the CBN and FAAN as a pretext to start another round of toxic opposition is wrong.
“We want to state, unequivocally, that those behind this sordid narrative are dishonest ethnic and regional champions, trying to draw attention to themselves,” it said.
The presidential aide said the status of Abuja as the Federal Capital had come to stay, adding that it is backed by law. He said, “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 deals with commercial banks, almost all of which have their headquarters in Lagos,” he explained.
According to him, all those pushing this campaign of falsehood and misinformation know they are merely playing politics, 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), commissioned by former President Muhammadu Buhari is in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
“It must be pointed out that these decisions are purely administrative and should not be politicised by people of goodwill and those who wish our country well.“
He said President Tinubu-led administration is 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.”
“Our citizens desire nothing but good governance that positively impacts their lives. Rumour mongering is a pernicious disservice to this ultimate expectation of our people,” he said.
By Jonathan Nda-Isaiah
