ACF protests relocation of CBN units, FAAN headquarters to Lagos

The pan-northern socio-political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum, has condemned the relocation of key departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria to Lagos by the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.

According to the ACF, the relocations of the two agencies are a deliberate ploy to further underdevelop the northern region of the country.

The PUNCH reports that the CBN in an internal memo last week announced plans to transfer some of its departments to Lagos State, citing congestion at the headquarters in Abuja

 “This is to notify all staff members at the CBN Head Office that we have initiated a decongestion action plan designed to optimize the operational environment of the bank.

“This initiative aims to ensure compliance with building safety standards and enhance the efficient utilization of our office space,” the CBN memo said.

Similarly, the Federal Government announced the relocation of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria’s headquarters from Abuja to Lagos.

The relocation was officially announced by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, in a memo dated January 15, 2024, and signed by the Managing Director of FAAN, Mrs Olubunmi Kuku.

However, the ACF,  through its National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Tukur Mohammed-Baba,  in a statement in Kaduna on Sunday, kicked against planned relocations of the two federal agencies from Abuja to Lagos.

The statement was titled: ‘Planned relocation of key CBN units and FAAN headquarters to Lagos deliberate ploy to further underdevelop northern Nigeria.’

The ACF contended that the planned relocation of the agencies was in bad faith.

Besides, the ACF spokesman said  the northern elders also faulted the recent appointment in the Ministry of Aviation where “only eight of 40 directors recently appointed are from the North!”

“The ACF calls on the Federal Government of Nigeria, and the National Assembly, to call on those agencies to retrace their steps and apply other honest means of addressing the alleged overcrowding in offices.

“Against the situation in Lagos, there is plenty of land in the Federal Capital Territory for expansion of office and other infrastructural facilities and such factors should not be used to obfuscate sinister motives.

“The ACF wishes to remind all concerned that decades ago, the seat of the capital of the Federal Republic was moved from Lagos to Abuja for reasons that remain valid, it is constitutional even more so today, constitutionally so, although, of course, a section of the country never liked the decision,” the ACF said.

The CBN spokesperson,  Sidi Ali, could not be reached on the phone for comment on Sunday.

However, an official of the apex bank, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said, “Contrary to the ACF statement, the relocation of CBN departments to Lagos is not politically motivated, neither is it a ploy to underdevelop the North. The decision is purely operational.”