President Tinubu cannot change the capital of Nigeria to Lagos, it requires a constitutional amendment – Shehu Sani

Former Senator from Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani emphasized that President Bola Tinubu lacks the authority to shift the federal capital from Abuja to Lagos State.

Sani stressed that such a relocation could only occur through a constitutional amendment, not at the discretion of the president or any group. He encouraged Senators to thoughtfully discuss the matter during plenary sessions, as per his post on X.

According to Sani: “Abuja’s status as the Federal Capital of Nigeria is a strong constitutional provision that no individual or group including the President can change it. The status of Abuja can only change if there is a constitutional amendment to that effect and the cumbersome and controversial process of changing or altering the constitution is well known.

“President Tinubu cannot change the capital of Nigeria to Lagos, and I believe he will not. But we should remind ourselves that many federal establishments are not headquartered in the FCT, for example; NECO Hq is in Minna, NBTE is in Kaduna, and NDDC is in PH. Nigerian Railway HQ is still in Ebute meta, Lagos.

“Some of the HQ of Federal agencies were deliberately cited outside Abuja because of the interest of those who were in power in the past, and some of the Agencies are still outside Abuja because their Abuja Headquarters building is yet to be built.

“However, people have the right to express their opinion including raising issues when they feel suspicious of any move. That is democracy. I want to see Senators and Reps you elected stand up on the floor of their chambers and speak intelligently on matters like this to set the record straight and calm the nerves.”