The pan-Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has backed President Tinubu’s decision to relocate some offices of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Lagos.
However, the group also urged the President to consider relocating other key ministries, including Petroleum, Trade and Investment, Commerce and Industry, and Transportation, to the Southeast and Niger Delta regions.
In a press release issued on Sunday, Ohanaeze expressed concern over the silence of Northern Governors regarding recent media attacks against the relocation plans. The group accused some Northern leaders of funding these attacks and urged them to emulate Vice President Kashim Shettima, who publicly supported the move.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo vehemently reproaches Northern leaders for their silence when Former President Buhari relocated the military headquarters from Abuja to Maiduguri,” the statement said. “It is an act of sheer wickedness and a display of unpatriotic behavior for Northern leaders to either feign ignorance or turn a blind eye to these historical facts and evidence.”
The group argued that Tinubu’s decision to relocate FAAN and CBN offices to Lagos sets a precedent for further decentralization and urged him to extend the gesture to the Southeast and Niger Delta.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s appeals to President Tinubu to relocate the headquarters of important Federal Ministries to the Southeast and Niger Delta states are driven by economic reasons and the desire for massive development in these two geopolitical zones,” the statement added.
