Senator Ali Ndume from Borno South has claimed that President Bola Tinubu received misguided advice from some ‘Lagos boys’ regarding the planned relocation of certain offices of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) from Abuja to Lagos.
In response to the proposed relocation, which aims to decongest the CBN head office in Abuja, Senator Ndume highlighted the consensus of northern elites against it, stressing that Abuja is recognized as the country’s capital.
The Senate Chief Whip expressed his views during an appearance on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Tuesday, stating, “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.”
He further argued against the relocation, drawing parallels with other key sectors: “Do you now say that because the majority of our oil is extracted from the south-south, you take NNPC to the south-south? Or because the country’s main agriculture is from the north, you take the Ministry of Agriculture to the north. It does not work that way.”
Ndume raised concerns about increased costs and risks to staff, suggesting that if decongestion is the goal, the CBN should be relocated to places like Nasarawa, Kogi, or Kaduna.
Expressing confidence in President Tinubu’s ability to reconsider the decision, he said, “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 favor to my president because this will have political consequences.”
