The Presidency has dismissed insinuations that President Bola Tinubu has the intention to move Nigeria’s capital from Abuja to Lagos.

Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the clarification on Wednesday, in response to the controversy over moves by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to relocate their departments from Abuja to Lagos.

He explained that the movement of FAAN, a department of the Aviation Ministry, to Lagos, where it was based before former minister Hadi Sirika moved it to Abuja during the last administration, does not amount to moving the FCT to Lagos.

He noted that similarly, the movement of some departments of the CBN to Lagos should not trigger any worries, as the bank departments concerned, are those dealing with commercial banks, all with headquarters in Lagos; adding that a regulator ought to be close to the businesses it regulates.

He further argued that there are many parastatals not based in Abuja, depending on their mandate, giving examples of NIMASA and the NPA in Lagos; while the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) is in Lokoja, and not Abuja.