The news of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu moving the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has caused an uproar among many Nigerians, especially members of the opposition parties.

This has led to several assertions by members of the opposition, including that the president is trying to bring the Federal Capital Territory to Lagos State (a state that he once served as governor and is rumored to have control over).

However, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, through his recent post on X, has reacted to these claims, calling those peddling them dishonest while pointing its origin to the 2023 presidential campaign season.

According to Mr. Onanuga, 'President Tinubu has no plan whatsoever to move the Federal Capital to Lagos. The rumor first surfaced during the campaign last year, when opponents were looking for all manner of weapons to stop him. We trashed it.

Those peddling it anew are dishonest ethnic and regional champions, trying to draw attention to themselves. Abuja has come to stay. It is backed by law.'

Mr. Onanuga also disclosed that the movement of some departments of the country's highest financial body, the CBN, should not trigger concerns from Nigerians as '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.

On President Tinubu's decision to move FAAN to Lagos, Mr. Onanuga disclosed that FAAN was initially situated in Lagos but was moved to the country's capital, Abuja, by a former minister, Hadi Sirika, for administrative purposes.

'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', Mr. Onanuga tweeted.

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