Senate chief whip, Ali Ndume, has replied to his critics, especially Kogi West senator, Sunday Karimi, over his comments on the relocation of some federal agencies’ offices to Lagos.
In his response yesterday to Karimi’s comment that he did not speak for the Senate on the matter, the Senate chief whip said it would be unpatriotic not to tell President Bola Ahmed Tinubu the truth about the happenings in the country.
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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had earlier announced they would be taking some critical departments to Lagos to decongest their offices in Abuja.
Specifically, CBN said the departments for relocation are Banking Supervision, Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Consumer Protection Department, Payment System Management Department, and Financial Policy Regulations Department.
The plans by CBN and FAAN elicited condemnation from different quarters, especially from the Northern Apex socio-cultural organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF).
While featuring on a live television programme on Tuesday, Ndume, who is representing Borno South at the Senate, said 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.
Ndume’s stand about the planned relocation of the CBN and FAAN offices to Lagos is being celebrated across the country, especially among Northerners.
Senator Sunday Karimi, a senator from Kogi State, had said that the Borno lawmaker’s comment was not the stand of the Senate.
In a response to Karimi’s reaction, Ndume said he did not speak on behalf of the Northern Senators or the Senate but as a Northerner in support of the majority of Northerners and some Nigerians who are against the action of CBN governor Olayemi Cardoso and the minister of aviation, Festus Keyamo.
“With all due respect, I did not speak on behalf of the Northern Senators or the Senate but as a Northerner in support of the majority of Northerners and some Nigerians who are against the action of the CBN Governor and the Minister of Aviation,” Ndume said while quoting a former US President who said it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth.
“A famous former American President said, ‘Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that, by inefficiency or otherwise, he fails in his duty to stand by the country.’
“In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else,” Ndume said.