By Ábbanobi – Eku Onyekachi
Abuja
Although the Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South at the Senate may not be having sleepless night in his fight to stop the relocation of some Federal Government’s (FG) agencies from Abuja to Lagos, in the name of the Northern Senators, but the Chairman, the Senate Services Committee, Senator Sunday Karimi, who represents Kogi West in the Senate, who is also from the North on Wednesday described Senator Ndume’s views, by opposing the planned relocation of some departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Airports Authority as personal views, saying that it does not in any way represent a position taken by the Senate.
Responding to Karimi, Ndume however told the Kogi West representative that
it is unpatriotic not to tell President Bola Ahmed Tinubu the truth about the happenings in the country, even as he
said President Tinubu is being ill-advised by “Lagos boys” in the corridors of power.
“All these Lagos boys who are thinking that Lagos is Nigeria are just misinforming and advising the President wrongly,” Ndume was quoted as saying on a live television.
Maintaining that Ndume wasn’t speaking for the Senate, Senator Sunday Karimi however insisted that it was needless attaching ethnic or petty sentiments to the relocation of the offices, which he said, was done for cohesion and better delivery of services.
Recall that Ndume, in a Channels Television interview on Tuesday, warned President Tinubu that there would be political consequences for his action, alleging that the president was being misled by a cartel of ‘Lagos Boys,’ a threat Karimi treated with a wave of hand, saying that leaders should avoid utterances that will heat up the polity and cause division and disaffection amongst the federating units of the country.
Backing his stand with examples, he said that the headquarters of 96% of all banks in Nigeria is in Lagos. He therefore informed that the staff of the Banking and Supervision Department of the CBN often travel to Lagos to check their books at the headquarters, saying that the it will save cost to have that directorate in Lagos. While adding that Lagos remains the hub of aviation in Nigeria, he observes that it is better to have FAAN in Lagos.
He argued: “What is important to our people in the North and Nigerians as a whole is how decisions of government will affect their lives positively and put food on their table at cheaper prices.
They are not bothered by any ethnic sentiments on the relocation of offices of federal ministries and agencies. So Ndume’s position is personal and doesn’t represent the position of the Nigerian Senate.”
On the stand of the Northern Senators, he informed: “When this issue was raised for discussion on the platform of Northern Senators Forum, the Chairman of the Forum, Sen. Abdul Ningi, cautioned on the need to exercise restraints. That no one should jump into conclusion or read political meanings into the decision. So I want to believe that our President, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will not act in any way to undermine any section of the country, the decision would have been made for the cohesiveness of units within such organisations, ”he stated.
