Against the backdrop of the recent controversy which has been thrown up the move by the Federal Government to relocate the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) from Abuja to Lagos, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo has declared that nothing will his Ministry from going ahead with the decision.
The minister made this assertion on Wednesday night when he appeared on Channels TV programme, Politics Today.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that Senator Ali Ndume from Borno South as well as chieftains of the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Northern Elders Forum, NEF, and other northern groups had kicked against the moves.
According to them, the relocation of FAAN headquarters and some departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to Lagos was an attempt to marginalise the north.
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But addressing the controversy, Keyamo simply said, “We are going ahead. The directive has been given.”
Keyamo said the whole issue was compounded with the fact that FAAN is not yet digitalised and so, in one year, they spend half a billion naira on a flight ticket between Lagos and Abuja alone.
“You see them flying every day to and fro Abuja to get one file signed. They fly every day, back and forth. In one year, they spent close to half a billion naira on flight tickets. N450 million on flight tickets alone,” he said.
Earlier, the Federal Government of Nigeria had declared that the relocation of the headquarters of FAAN, and some departments of the CBN to Lagos will benefit Nigeria on the long run because it is poised to increase operational efficiency and reduce operating costs.
In a statement which was obtained by Africa Today News, New York, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, dismissed claims that the relocation of some departments in the two agencies are political moves to marginalise a section of the country.
Senator Ali Ndume from Borno South as well as chieftains of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Northern Elders Forum ( NEF) and other northern groups had kicked against the moves by FAAN and the apex bank, insinuating that it was an attempt to marginalise the north.