President Bola Tinubu has been urged to consider moving the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and Nigerian Ports Authority to the Niger Delta region for efficiency.
Making this call, a former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Yekini Nabena, appealed that the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment be moved to either Kano or Anambra States where people trade in high proportion to justify the planned relocation of some departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria out of the Federal Capital Territory.
Naija News reports that Nabena’s plea comes just a few days after the Federal Government expressed interest in relocating some elements of the CBN and FAAN to Lagos State to improve operational efficiency.
Referencing an interview that was published on April 11, 1997 with the headline “I don’t believe in one Nigeria—Tinubu,” the former APC spokesman stated that the administration needs to be transparent about its true intentions about the relocation of the two agencies that are impacted.
However, the development has sparked heated arguments, with certain Northern senators and elites strongly opposing the decision.
Nabena stated that federal agencies are emblems of Nigerian unity and should not be tampered with.
The APC chieftain further detailed that despite repeated discussions in the Nigerian Senate, the oil firms had not responded to requests to relocate to the oil-producing Niger Delta region.
He said, “If the efficiency of these agencies is the main reason for the plan to relocate them to Lagos State, we from the Niger Delta are also asking that the NNPCL, NIMASA, NPA, and others will be more effective in either Bayelsa, Rivers or Delta states.
Story continues below advertisement
“In the same way, the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steal Development should be moved to Kogi state where we have the Ajaokuta Steal for efficiency. I also believe that the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment should either be relocated to Kano or Anambra states where trade is done in high proportion. In the same way, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture should be taken to Benue State, the food basket of the Nation.”
