By Torkwase Atime
The House of Representatives has resolved to ask the British Parliament to tender an unreserved apology for making a weighty false allegation against former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon.
The Members, in a resolution adopted from a motion moved by Hon. Yusuf Gagdi during Tuesday plenary, noted that the allegation by a member of British House of Common, Tom Tugendhat, that Gowon looted half of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and ran to the United Kingdom could pitch him against Nigerians.
The House, therefore, resolved to write the British Parliament to tender a public apology to the former Head of State and Nigerians.
“Yakubu Gowon is under my constituency and the statement that went viral should not be made by a parliament as such in the UK.
“It beats my imagination that the country’s parliamentarian, Tom Tugendhat, the consecutive member of for Tonbridge and Mailing and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Selected Committee of the House of the Commons, had accused former Head of State of Nigeria, General Yakubu Gowon of taking half of the Central Bank of Nigeria with him when he went on exile to the United Kingdom (UK) after the toppled in a military coup,” Gagdi stated.
Calling on the Bristish PM to prove his allegations, the lawmaker also noted: “The recalcitrance of Tugendhat, MP, in this matter gives credence to suggestions in certain quarters that the careless utterance was not made in error, but rather a calculated attempt to exploit the faultiness of Nigeria society to create conflict, exacerbate crisis and create conditions that make governing doubtful and progress impossible.”