CBN Relocation: Your Threat Against Tinubu Empty – Matawalle Fires Katsina Elders

The Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, has berated the Katsina Elders’ Forum over the comment on the relocation of some departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from Abuja to Lagos.

Naija News reported that the elders’ forum had kicked against the planned decision to relocate some CBN departments and crucial projects to Lagos State.

The forum said Tinubu risks losing the support of northern Nigeria unless the relocation of some CBN departments to Lagos is halted, adding that the move is a deliberate attempt to cripple the economy of the North.

But in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, Matawalle said the comments made by the elders were wrong and did not reflect the position of Northern Nigeria on the re-election of President Tinubu in 2027.

Matawalle described the threat by the forum as an empty one and contrived to cause hatred and disunity and to set Northern Nigeria against their brothers and sisters from other parts of the country.

The former Zamfara governor said that what Northern Nigeria needs now is the security of lives and property, which the President is committed to providing.

Matawalle also warned that anything capable of truncating the nation’s democracy and setting the North against other regions would not be tolerated by the government.

He said: “President Tinubu is for all Nigerians, and he has no interest or agenda against any of the six geopolitical zones of the country.

“The Renewed Hope Agenda of the president is geared towards setting things right for the realisation of maximum economic development, security, and welfare of all Nigerians.

“Do Katsina elders have the right to speak on behalf of Northern people? How can the elders who failed to support the President and their own, the former President Muhammadu Buhari, to win Katsina State make such a reckless statement on behalf of the Northern people?

“Katsina elders have forgotten how they betrayed Buhari and President Tinubu by their failure to ensure that President Tinubu wins the majority of votes in their state in the 2023 presidential election.”

Matawalle also urged the elders not to truncate the existing peace and harmony between the north and other regions through such statements.

He added: “When former President Buhari’s Minister of Transportation decided to locate the Transportation University in the former President’s hometown, Daura, other Nigerians did not protest against that decision.

“(This is because) they believed it was in the interest of unity and peaceful coexistence of the country.

“I, therefore, strongly advise the Katsina elders to think twice and stop heating up the polity, but rather concentrate on what binds Nigerians and Nigeria as an entity for the development of our dear country.”