Reps to invite British envoy over Gowon, demands apology

THE House of Representatives has resolved to invite the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing over the recent comment made by a British lawmaker against former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon.
According to the Reps, the invitation is to seek explanation from the British envoy why no apology or retraction has been made by the lawmaker after his comment has been debunked by Gowon.
On November 23, a member of the British parliament accused Gowon of taking half of the money in the Central Bank of Nigeria with him when he was ousted from office and went on exile.
But during plenary on Tuesday, the House of Reps mandated its committee on Foreign Affairs to interface with the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British parliament over the comments.
The Reps said the allegation of looting by a member of the British House of Commons against Gowon is capable of plunging the country into another round of crisis, weeks after the quashed #EndSARS protests.
The resolution of the House followed a motion from a lawmaker, Yusuf Gagdi, who is from the same constituency as the former head of state.
Gagdi maintained that no evidence was provided to back the claim.
Following Gagdi’s motion, the House resolved that the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila should write to Speaker of UK Parliament to express displeasure over the unfounded allegations.
The letter is also to demand that the Member of Parliament, who made the allegation, should offer a public apology to Gowon, as well as the people and government of Nigeria.
This comes a week after the UK Parliament criticised the Buhari admnistration for forcefully quashing the #EndSARS protests and afterwards harassing prominent participants in the agitation.
The UK parliament resolved to impose sanctions such as visa ban, freezing of assets and stopping of funding and training for the Nigeria Police Force.