CBN, FAAN Relocation: Southern Elders Berate Northern Senators

Some Southern leaders, under the aegis of Southern Nigeria Elders Solidarity Forum (SNESOF), have berated northern senators for their comments on this year’s budget and the relocation of some offices of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Aviation Agency of Nigeria (FAAN) from Abuja to Lagos.
The forum described the outburst by the senators as needless, ill-conceived, unguarded, and unexpected of the distinguished members of the National Assembly.

The 58 senators, under the auspices of the Northern Senators Forum (NSF), had condemned President Bola Tinubu for alleged unfair treatment of the North in this year’s budget and approving the relocation of some departments of CBN and Aviation agencies to Lagos.

But in a statement yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, SNESOF spokesman Emmanuel Silas said the northern senators channeled their energy over issues that could set the regions against each other.

Also, in a statement in Abuja by its President, Abdulkabir Farouk, the Northern Peace and Justice Initiative said contrary to the senators’ claim, President Tinubu had never taken any step to suggest that his administration was short-changing any part of the country.

Similarly, the Bayelsa State chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has distanced itself from a statement credited to a former National Deputy Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Yekini Nabena, on the Federal Government’s plans to relocate some offices of the CBN and FAAN from Abuja to Lagos.

In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Doifie Buokoribo, the chapter said Nabena spoke for himself, insisting that “he is on his own”.

The statement added: “The state chapter has, for some time, taken note of Nabena’s recent remarks that curiously seem to be at odds with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s policy directions.

“The state chapter affirms that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s time in office so far has yielded the expected results, which are nothing short of excellent and thus his Presidency is one which we boast of as the true ideals of our party are gloriously exhibited.”