Ndume to Tinubu: Relocation of CBN, FAAN offices to Lagos will have political consequences

Ali Ndume, chief whip of the senate, says the relocation of some offices of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to Lagos, will have political consequences.

Speaking during an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday, Ndume said “political cartels” are misguiding Tinubu to take the wrong decisions.

Recently, CBN announced the relocation of some of its departments from Abuja to Lagos.

Similarly, FAAN announced the relocation of its headquarters from Abuja to Lagos.

The development elicited varied reactions, with northern stakeholders like the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), rejecting the decision.

Speaking on the relocation, Ndume said those behind the decisions still consider Lagos the capital of Nigeria, adding that the country cannot have two capital cities.

The Borno senator argued that if the rationale behind the decision is for decongestion of the Abuja offices, the relocation should be to states conterminous with Abuja and not Lagos.

He said the decision is beginning to assume a tribal, clannish dimension, adding that the president is being ill-advised by “Lagos boys” in the corridors of power.

“All these Lagos boys who are thinking that Lagos is Nigeria are just misinforming and advising the president wrongly,” the senator said.

“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? It does not work that way.”

Ndume said he believes that President Bola Tinubu will reverse the decisions as a “nationalist and not just a Lagos man”.

He added that those behind the decisions do not have the president’s interest at heart.

“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,” he added.

“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.”

Nigeria’s capital was moved from Lagos to Abuja on December 12, 1991, during the military regime of Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB).