The Senator representing Borno South Senatorial, Ali Ndume, has criticized the proposed relocation of specific departments within the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria from Abuja to Lagos.
He expressed the belief that President Bola Tinubu is receiving inaccurate information from “political cartels,” leading to misguided decisions.
In an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday, he remarked that the president is being poorly counseled by individuals he referred to as “Lagos boys” within 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.
“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,” he added.
Among the CBN departments earmarked for relocation are Banking Supervision, Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Consumer Protection Department, Payment System Management Department, and Financial Policy Regulations Department.
Report state that the central bank’s decision aims to alleviate congestion at its headquarters situated in the Federal Capital Territory.
FAAN additionally clarified that the planned relocation serves to address the mismanagement of public resources and prevent the deterioration of its unused building in Lagos.
“The Minister (Festus Keyamo) has decided to stop this waste of public resources and rip-off on the public purse,” the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at FAAN, Obiageli Orah, said in a statement.
Ndume, the Chief Whip of the Senate, however, said the relocation of the office to Lagos will have political consequences.
He said, “We only have one Federal Capital and that is Abuja.
“The regulators of the financial institutions are supposed to be or are in Abuja. Do you want them to move back because you say Lagos is the commercial capital?
“This is one of the mistakes and I’m sure Mr President will reverse it because it doesn’t work. You can’t have two capitals.
“Is the CBN governor going to be operating from Lagos? Or do you now say that because the majority of our oil is extracted from South-South, you take NNPC to South-South?
“Or is it because Nigeria’s agriculture is more in the North, you take Ministry of Agric to anywhere in the North? It doesn’t work that way.”
He added, “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.”
The announcement has sparked diverse reactions, with several northern stakeholders, including the Arewa Consultative Forum, expressing their disapproval.
The pan-northern socio-political organization asserted that the planned relocations of the two agencies are a deliberate strategy aimed at perpetuating underdevelopment in the northern region of the country.