4th February, 2024
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo on Sunday backed President Bola Tinubu’s planned relocation of the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and a department in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Lagos.
Ohanaeze, in a statement issued by its Secretary-General, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said it expressed profound concern over the glaring silence exhibited by the Northern Governors in response to the relentless and malicious media attacks orchestrated by certain Northern groups and political leaders.
“It is indeed both surprising and disheartening to witness the Northern Governors Forum remaining silent in the face of these unwarranted campaigns aimed at denigrating the commendable intentions of the Federal Government to relocate certain offices to Lagos.
“This has led us to strongly suspect that some Northern Governors may have surreptitiously provided unwarranted financial backing to sociocultural bodies, political and opinion leaders such as the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), and Northern Senators, with the audacious goal of obstructing and opposing President Tinubu’s praiseworthy policies and intentions to relocate some departments of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Lagos,” it said.
According to Ohanaeze, unless the Northern Governors chose to align themselves with the commendable stance displayed by Vice President Kashim Shettima, who openly condemned the Northern opposition to the relocation of the offices of FAAN and CBN, the confidential information that alleged their support to resist the relocation would undoubtedly gain credence in the eyes of both Ndigbo and Nigerians at large.
“Regrettably, we are compelled to believe that some Northern Governors are clandestinely financing these leaders, solely motivated by their interests and the desires of a privileged group, rather than being concerned about the welfare of the impoverished Northern populace.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo vehemently reproaches the Northern leaders for their deafening silence when Former President Buhari relocated the military headquarters from Abuja to Maiduguri. It is an act of sheer wickedness and an unpatriotic display for Northern leaders to either feign ignorance or willingly turn a blind eye to these well-documented historical facts, especially when their son, former President Buhari, moved the military headquarters from Abuja to Maiduguri during his inaugural speech on May 29, 2015,” the group said.
Ohanaeze added that given such glaring historical truths, urgently appealed to Tinubu to carefully consider the economic importance and national security implications of such a move, and decisively approve the relocation of significant Federal Ministries, including Petroleum, Trade and Investment, Commerce and Industry, and Transportation, to the old Eastern region, encompassing the 11 states of the Southeast and the Niger Delta.
“We profoundly acknowledge President Tinubu’s decision to relocate certain departments of FAAN and CBN from Abuja to Lagos, which we perceive as a resounding endorsement of Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s economic reasoning. However, we firmly believe that this remarkable gesture must be expanded to include the relocation of the headquarters of these vital Federal Ministries,” it said.
Ohanaeze emphatically underlined the pressing need for the Arewa Consultative Forum, Northern Elders, and Senators from the North to fully recognise that Tinubu is ardently emulating the footsteps of Former President Buhari, who boldly relocated the military headquarters to Maiduguri from Abuja.