The Chief Whip of the Senate, Ali Ndume, has advised President Bola Tinubu on the decision to relocate some offices of the Central Bank of Nigeria and headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria to Lagos.
Ndume who advised while speaking during an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday, said these decisions will have some political consequences if they are taken.
The Borno lawmaker further claimed that “political cartels” are misguiding Tinubu to take the wrong decisions,
The CBN and FAAN had recently announced the relocation of some of their departments and headquarters from Abuja to Lagos, respectively.
However, the decisions have generated different reactions among Nigerians, especially, northern stakeholders like the Arewa Consultative Forum, who have all rejected the decision.
Reacting during the interview, Senator Ndume claimed that those behind the decisions still consider Lagos the capital of Nigeria, adding that the country cannot have two capital cities.
He further argued that if the rationale behind the decision is for decongestion of the Abuja offices, the relocation should be to states conterminous with Abuja and not Lagos.
According to him, the decision is beginning to assume a tribal, clannish dimension, adding that the president is being ill-advised by “Lagos boys” in the corridors of power.
Ndume said “All these Lagos boys who are thinking that Lagos is Nigeria are just misinforming and advising the president wrongly.
“The regulators of the financial institutions are supposed to be or are in Abuja.
“Do you now say that because the majority of our oil is extracted from south-south, you take NNPC to south-south? It does not work that way.”
He however said he believes that President Bola Tinubu will reverse the decisions as a “nationalist and not just a Lagos man”.
According to the lawmakers, those behind the decisions do not have the president’s interest at heart.
“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.
“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.
