Contrary to speculation in some quarters, President Bola Tinubu has no plan to move the Federal Capital to Lagos, the Presidency has said.

 

The Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, stated this in a statement via his official X handle on Wednesday, following a rumour that surfaced on social media that the President plans to move the FCT to Lagos State after a department under the Ministry of Aviation, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, moved some of its departments to Lagos.

 

“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,” the statement read.

“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.”

 

According to Onanuga, those peddling rumour are dishonest, ethnic and regional champions, trying to draw attention to themselves.

He claimed that those pushing the campaign of falsehood know they are playing politics, albeit dangerous politics to pitch the North against the South.

Onanuga said Abuja has come to stay as 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,” Onanuga stated.

 

STATE HOUSE PRESS STATEMENT:PRESIDENT TINUBU HAS NO PLAN TO RELOCATE FEDERAL CAPITAL TO LAGOS

We have noticed how mischief-makers, bent on fueling needless ethnic mistrust, have deliberately misinterpreted the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria to relocate its Department… pic.twitter.com/QvKhv3L7e6

— Bayo Onanuga (@aonanuga1956) January 24, 2024