Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, conveyed this message in an official statement released on Wednesday via his designated X handle.
Onanuga criticized those spreading the rumors, labeling them as dishonest individuals with ethnic and regional biases who are seeking attention for themselves. He argued that these purveyors of misinformation are engaging in a perilous form of politics, attempting to create divisions between the North and the South.
Emphasizing the permanence of Abuja, Onanuga asserted that it is legally established. This statement comes in the wake of the recent relocation of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), a department within the Aviation Ministry, to Lagos.
The statement reads, “President Tinubu has no plan whatsoever to move the Federal Capital to Lagos. The rumour first surfaced during the campaign last year by opponents looking for all manners of weapons to stop him. We trashed it.
“Those peddling it anew are dishonest, ethnic and regional champions, trying to draw attention to themselves. Abuja has come to stay. It is backed by law.
“The movement of FAAN, a department of the Aviation Ministry to Lagos, where it was based before former minister Hadi Sirika moved it to Abuja during the last administration, does not amount to moving the FCT to Lagos.
“The administrative move should have attracted scant attention, as Lagos is the commercial capital and the hub of aviation business in Nigeria. FAAN should be nowhere else but near the industry it regulates. FAAN will still maintain some presence in Abuja, as it is not a wholesale movement.
“Similarly, the movement of some departments of the CBN to Lagos should not trigger any hoopla. The departments concerned, including the bank supervision department, are those dealing with commercial banks, all with headquarters in Lagos. A regulator ought to be close to the businesses it regulates.
“All those pushing this campaign of falsehood know they are playing politics, albeit a dangerous politics to pit the North against the South.
“There are many parastatals that are not based in Abuja depending on their mandate. NIMASA is in Lagos. So is NPA. The National Inland Waterways Authority( NIWA) is in Lokoja, not Abuja. Will the people opposing the movement of FAAN and some CBN departments want those agencies to be in Abuja, where there is no single port and no maritime activity?
