Rumoured relocation of FCT to Lagos plot to pit South against North – Presidency

Rumoured relocation of FCT to Lagos plot to pit South against North – Presidency

The Presidency has debunked the rumour of plans to move the Federal Capital Territory Abuja to Lagos, Nigeria’s former capital.

It also says recent characterisation of the relocation of two federal departments from Abuja to Lagos as part of plans to relocate the federal capital back to Lagos is a dangerous politics aimed at pitting the North against the South.
Notable northern politicians, including senators, former political office holders and other opinion molders have come down hard on decisions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Management to relocate the Department of Banking Supervision and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria(FAAN) to Lagos for operational reasons.

Some of those who raised issues against the planned relocations claimed that the plans were part of a grander move to take the seat of power away from Abuja, North-central part of the country, back to Lagos in the south, which used to be the Federal Capital and now the commercial hub of the country.

However, reacting to the various insinuations and allegations being bandied round, the Presidency, in a statement by Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, warned those spreading the negative depictions of the plan to be wary of its implications on the unity of the nation.

According to the statement, the insinuation that the decisions by the CBN and the Federal Ministry of Aviation to relocate the affected department and agency have nothing to do with relocating the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), especially as the capital of Nigeria is a subject of the law, adding that the insinuation is false.

“We have noticed how mischief-makers, bent on fueling needless ethnic mistrust, 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 back to Lagos.

“We 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 Bola Tinubu is planning to relocate the Federal Capital back to Lagos.

“These rumours, which first surfaced during the electioneering last year, was sponsored by political opponents looking for all manners of weapons to prevent Asiwaju Tinubu from being elected as president by a section of the country.