ACF protests relocation of CBN units, FAAN headquarters to Lagos

Key departments of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the Central Bank of Nigeria were moved to Lagos by the administration of President Bola Tinubu, which has been denounced by the pan-northern socio-political organization Arewa Consultative Forum.

The ACF claims that the two agencies’ moves were planned as a ruse to further underdevelop the nation’s northern area.

Due to traffic at the Abuja headquarters, the CBN reportedly stated last week in an internal communication that it intended to move some of its departments to Lagos State.

We have started a decongestion action plan to improve the bank’s operational environment, and this is to inform every employee at the CBN Head Office about this.

As per the CBN document, the objective of this project is to optimize the effective use of our office space and guarantee adherence to building safety regulations.

A similar announcement was made by the federal government regarding the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria’s move from Abuja to Lagos for their headquarters.

A memo dated January 15, 2024, signed by Mrs. Olubunmi Kuku, Managing Director of FAAN, and officially announcing the relocation was written by Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development.

The ACF, however, objected to the two federal agencies’ proposed moves from Abuja to Lagos in a statement released on Sunday in Kaduna through Prof. Tukur Mohammed-Baba, its National Publicity Secretary.

The statement said: “A calculated attempt to further underdevelop northern Nigeria is being made with the planned relocation of key CBN units and FAAN headquarters to Lagos.”

In bad faith, the ACF argued, the agencies’ planned move was planned.

ACF spokesman: “Only eight of the 40 directors recently appointed are from the North!” Another criticism from the northern elders was directed towards the Ministry of Aviation.

The All Progressives Congress (ACF) urges the Nigerian Federal Government and the National Assembly to urge such agencies to take a different tack and use other sincere ways to alleviate the purported cramping in offices.

“The Federal Capital Territory has ample space for the construction of offices and other infrastructure amenities, in contrast to the circumstances in Lagos. These advantages should not be utilized to mask evil intentions.

Although, of course, some in the nation never approved of the move, the ACF stated, “The ACF wishes to remind all concerned that the seat of the capital of the Federal Republic was moved from Lagos to Abuja decades ago for reasons that remain valid, even more so today, constitutionally so.”

On Sunday, it was impossible to get through to Sidi Ali, the CBN spokesperson, over the phone.

The transfer of CBN departments to Lagos, in contrast to the ACF statement, is not politically motivated or an attempt to underdevelop the North, according to an apex bank officer who talked on the record despite being unable to be identified because he was not authorized to discuss the subject. It’s an operational choice alone.