Again, Tinubu jets off to Paris on private visit, says no plan to move federal capital to Lagos
By Emma Ogbuehi
President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday afternoon, departed Abuja for Paris, the capital of France, on what the presidency called a private visit.
A statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, said the President will return to Nigeria in the first week of February.
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“President Bola Tinubu departs Abuja for Paris, France, on Wednesday, January 24, 204, for a private visit.
“He will return to the country in the first week of February, 2024”, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Tinubu said he has no intention to relocate the federal capital from Abuja back to Lagos.
The president who made the declaration on Wednesday through his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the recent controversy that has been sparked due to moves by the CBN and FAAN to relocate their departments from Abuja to Lagos has misrepresented the situation.
He argued that the movement of the FAAN to Lagos has nothing to do with the moving the federal capital and that the conspiracy is fueled by ‘dishonest, ethnic and regional champions’
He wrote: “The movement of FAAN, a department of 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.”
On the CBN’s move, he wrote: “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.”
He said that there are many parastatals that aren’t based in Abuja depending on their mandate.
Onanuga added: “There are many parastatals that are not based in Abuja depending on their mandate. NIMASA is in Lagos. So is NPA. 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?”