Recall that on Monday, November 23, the UK parliament debated a petition seeking to impose sanctions on Nigerian Government officials involved in the shooting incident that occurred during the Endsars protest in Lekki on October 20.

During the debate, the Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, a member of the parliament, urged his government to place sanctions on Nigerians who flee to the UK with ill-gotten wealth. He also spoke about Nigeria’s former military ruler, Yakubu Gowon’s alleged looting of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

However, in an exclusive interview with the BBC, Gowon described the allegations as ”Rubbish”

He said “What the MP said is rubbish. I don’t know where he got that rubbish from, I served Nigeria diligently and my records are there for all to see. I did not want to speak on this issue because people that know me to know that what the MP said is not true”

He went on to canvass for the restructuring of the country so as to integrate Igbos into the polity. He emphasised that the Igbo nation still remains marginalised 50 years after the civil war.
Gowon, who was represented by a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, appealed for urgent steps to be taken to ameliorate the pains of the Igbo people.

He said: “I believe that a lot of injustice has been done to the Igbo and a constitutional debate on restructuring must address all imbalances and restore hope and confidence. Nigeria is big enough for all of us and I believe that the Ndigbo, Middle belt and the Yoruba are the true Nigerians because if you look round our borders, people came from abroad and are still coming but Ndigbo’s have always been there, middle belt have always been there, even Yoruba have always been there. People who came in yesterday who have a duty of respect are now the ones talking. Going forward, we must create a federal democracy that will respond positively to all the aspirations of our people not about East-West but all about working together in equality, bringing in the youths and the women to build a new Nigeria.”