By Ife Osemedua
Former Nigerian Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, has described the allegation made against him by British parliamentarian, Tom Tugendhat, as “rubbish”. Tugendhat had alleged that Gowon looted half of the Central Bank of Nigeria and moved to London.
But speaking with the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, on Thursday, Gowon said records are available to disprove the allegation, adding that he does not know where the British lawmaker got his information from.
Tugendhat made the accusation on Monday during a debate on a petition before the British Parliament on Police Brutality and the Nigerian government’s highhandedness against #EndSARS protesters.
While trying to buttress a point on why government officials who deny citizens their rights should be banned from entering the UK, the parliamentarian had said: “Some people will remember when General Gowon left Nigeria with half the Central Bank of Nigeria, so it is said, and moved to London.”
Reacting, Gowon said, “I don’t know where he got that rubbish from. I served Nigeria diligently and my records are there for all to see.”
Gowon was Nigeria’s Head of State between 1967 to 1975, the period of the nation’s civil war, but was forced to leave power after a coup which took place while he was away attending a meeting of African Heads of State.
He then moved to the UK where he went back to school to study Political Science and International Relations at Warwick University.