The group in a statement issued on Monday by its Director of Administration, Oladapo Kayode, described the criticisms as very unfortunate, dishonourable, outrageous, and irresponsible.
A pan-Yoruba group, Yoruba Professionals Foundation (YPF), has slammed northern leaders critical of relocation of the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Department of Banking Supervision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Lagos State.
The group in a statement issued on Monday by its Director of Administration, Oladapo Kayode, described the criticisms as very unfortunate, dishonourable, outrageous, and irresponsible.
Insisting that Nigeria is not the inheritance of the North but a land for Nigerians, the group branded the attackers of the policy as “ethnic entrepreneurs and divisive elements” masquerading as Northern leaders.
According to the statement, the relocation of the Department of Banking supervision of the CBN to Lagos is in order since 90% of Headquarters of Nigerian banks are in Lagos.
The statement added that the Headquarters of FAAN, which was hitherto in Lagos, was administratively moved to Abuja by the immediate past Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, a northerner, despite that 80% of air transportation businesses in Nigeria carried out in Lagos, the country's commercial nerve centre.
The group, however, cited that the headquarters of the National Examination Council (NECO) is in Minna, Niger State, Northern Nigeria, while the headquarters of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) is in Lokoja, Kogi State, also Northern Nigeria.
The headquarters of the Nigeria Air Force Reference Hospital, Nigeria Air Force Quick Response Unit and the Forwarding Operating Base of the Nigerian Army are in Daura, Katsina State.
The statement partly read: "90% of the headquarters of the Nigerian Military formations are in Kaduna State, Northern Nigeria. Nigerians from the South who own 90% of the resources used to build the formations sited against the principle of federal character in the North accepted everything in public interest but a relocation from Abuja to Lagos done in public interest is generating hues and cries from ethnic merchants from the North.
“We also need to inform these regional jesters that Nigeria is a federal state; therefore, any part of the country can host the office of any agency of government. For instance, in the international scene, the National Assembly of the Republic of Benin is situated in Port Novo while the Presidential Villa and Supreme Court are in Cotonou.
“In the United States, where we borrowed our liberal democracy from, Washington DC is the Capital, but New York is her commercial headquarters with several multinationals and international organizations such as the United Nations, International Monetary Fund (IMF), United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), etc.
“Additionally, the headquarters of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Environmental Protection Agency, Geological Survey, Foreign Reserve, etc. are all situated in New York, a region like Lagos in Nigeria to the United States people."
It added, “In Britain, the headquarters of the United Kingdom Visa Office for Africa is based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, just as South Africa has three different capitals for administration, commerce, and judiciary.
“We are therefore warning these desperate charlatans to desist from their myopic attacks on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his policies; failure to which we shall start engaging them as they deserve."
The group, however, stated that "these ethnic jesters" are only speaking for themselves and not the progressive people from the North who have consistently support the President Tinubu-led administration.