The Federal Government says it is not planning to relocate the Federal Capital from Abuja to Lagos State.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, who said this in a statement in Abuja, added that the relocation of some departments and parastatals from Abuja to Lagos was for administrative convenience and better service delivery to Nigerians.
“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, were 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,” he said.
Arogidigba Global Journal recalls that the Federal Government had announced the relocation of the department of Banking Supervision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Lagos State.
Similarly, the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development is moving the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to its office in Lagos State.
The decision was received with mixed reactions from different sections of the Nigerian population who saw it as a hidden agenda to relocate the seat of power back to Lagos State.
“Those behind this renewed sordid narrative, using the recent decision of the CBN and FAAN as pretext to start another round of toxic opposition are dishonest ethnic and regional champions, trying to draw attention to themselves.
“The status of Abuja as the Federal Capital has come to stay. It is backed by law,” Onanuga said.
According to him, the movement was for administrative convenience because Lagos is the commercial capital and the hub of aviation business in Nigeria.