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Presidency Tackles Ndume Over CBN, FAAN Relocation …Denies Plan To Relocate Federal Capital To Lagos
The Presidency, on Wednesday, said the Bola Tinubu administration was not planning to relocate the Federal Capital of Nigeria back to Lagos, its previous location.
It described the insinuations as a creation of those it called “mischief-makers” bent on “fueling needless ethnic mistrust” to “pit the North against the South.”
This followed the Federal Government’s recent decision to relocate the Department of Banking Supervision of the Central Bank of Nigeria to Lagos and the directive of the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development to relocate the head office of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria to Lagos.
Northern senators and youths have expressed displeasure over the move, which they contended was a calculated move to short-change the North.
Applifying the dissenting voices from the North, the Senator representing Borno South Senatorial, Ali Ndume, said President Tinubu was being misinformed by “political cartels” to make wrong decisions.
Ndume, who spoke during an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday, said the President was being ill-advised by “Lagos boys” in the corridors of power, stressing the planned relocation would have “political consequences.”
But responding to the northern voices on Wednesday, the Presidency in a statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed claims that the FCT would be relocated from Abuja.
The status of Abuja as the Federal Capital has come to stay. It is backed by law,” Onanuga, said,
It argued that the “rumours” were a creation of the administration’s political opponents who failed to prevent Tinubu’s ascent to the Presidency.
Onanuga said, “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.
“Those behind this renewed sordid narrative, using the recent decision of the CBN and FAAN as a pretext to start another round of toxic opposition, are dishonest ethnic and regional champions, trying to draw attention to themselves.”
Onanuga noted that FAAN, an agency of the Ministry of Aviation, was initially headquartered in Lagos before former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, moved its base to Abuja during the immediate-past administration.
He noted that this “does not amount to moving the Federal Capital to Lagos.”
FAAN will still maintain some presence in Abuja. It is not a wholesale movement,” he noted, adding that the administrative move should have ordinarily attracted scant attention, as Lagos is the commercial capital and the hub of aviation business in Nigeria.
Similarly, the Presidency said the movement of the Department of Banking Supervision of the CBN to Lagos “should not trigger any discord within the polity,” as the department concerned deals with commercial banks, almost all of which are headquartered in Lagos”.
Therefore, “All those pushing this campaign of falsehood and misinformation know they are merely playing politics, albeit a dangerous politics, to pit the North against the South,” it said.
Onanuga affirmed that the Tinubu-led administration was “working tirelessly to be just and equitable to every section of the country,” urging restraint on the part of those it called rumour mongers who “distract every government from the noble objective of meeting the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.”
Meanwhile, the Senator representing Kogi-West, Karimi Sunday, on Wednesday, faulted Ndume’s comments on the planned relocation.
Karimi said Ndume’s comment was personal and did not in any way represent the position of the Senate.
In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, Karimi said it was needless for Ndume to attach ethnic or other sentiments to the relocation of the offices, which he said, was done “for cohesion and better delivery of services.”
He said, “Leaders need to avoid utterances that will heat up the polity and cause division and disaffection amongst the federating units of the country,” adding, “Senator Ndume’s position is personal and doesn’t represent the position of the Nigerian Senate.”
Also, a former spokesperson for former President Goodluck Jonathan, Doyin Okupe, has cautioned Ndume.
Reacting in an open letter, Okupe said Ndume’s “pronouncement on the above subject matter is provocative and unexpected of a politician of your pedigree and position in the Nigerian polity.”
Meanwhile, a former President of the Ijaw Youth Council, Udengs Eradiri, has appealed to President Tinubu to consider the relocation of some critical federal agencies involved in the oil business to the Niger Delta region.
Eradiri, who was the Labour Party governorship candidate in last year’s Bayelsa State governorship election, said the decongestion of Abuja was long overdue.
He, therefore, urged Tinubu to compel the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to move the headquarters of some of its subsidiaries to the capital cities of some states in the Niger Delta.
He said cities such as Yenagoa in Bayelsa, Port Harcourt in Rivers, Uyo in Akwa Ibom, and Asaba in Delta, among others, were ready to become hosts of such agencies and to ensure adequate security for them.
Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.