‘Lagos Boys’ Pressured Tinubu to Relocate FAAN, CBN Offices – Ndume
POLITICS DIGEST – The senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, has claimed that President Bola Tinubu was ill-advised by some ‘Lagos boys’ following the planned relocation of some offices of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) from Abuja to Lagos.
Recall Vanguard reported earlier the planned relocation of some departments in the CBN, such as the Bank Supervision Department, to Lagos in a bid to ‘decongest’ the head office, citing “the large staff strength at the Abuja headquarters as justification.”
The decision has since generated reactions from different groups in the country, with Northern senators’ expressing their angst over the proposed relocation.
Speaking during an appearance on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Tuesday, Ndume stated that the opposition to the relocation is a consensus as Abuja is recognised as the country’s capital.
His words: “This is not only about Northern colleagues; it’s a consensus. We only have one federal capital, and that is Abuja.
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“All these Lagos boys who are thinking that Lagos is Nigeria are just misinforming and advising the president wrongly; the regulators of the financial institutions are supposed to be or are in Abuja.
“Do you now say that because the majority of our oil is extracted from south-south, you take NNPC to south-south? or because the country’s main agriculture is from the north, you take the Ministry of Agriculture to the north. It does not work that way.”
“Lagos is not Nigeria; Lagos is not the capital of the country.”
Ndume also stated that the move will lead to the apex bank incurring more costs and exposing staff to risk. He argued that the CBN should be relocated to places like Nasarawa, Kogi, or Kaduna if it’s about decongestion.
Speaking further, he said he expects Tinubu to reverse the decision as a “nationalist and not just a Lagos man.”
He said, “I’m very sure and confident that Mr President will look at this situation because he is a nationalist and not just a Lagos man.
“Those political cartels that are in the corridors of power are trying to misinform the president, and we will tell the president. The president will take action.
“They are not doing any favour to my president because this will have political consequences.”
