The President of the African Development Bank, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has warned against misinformation about former military head of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon after a UK parliamentarian, Tom Tugendhat had alleged that he (Gowon) stole “half of Nigeria’s Central Bank.”
Tugendhat spoke on Monday, November 23, during a parliamentary debate on a petition seeking that the United Kingdom government impose sanctions on Nigerian officials involved in the alleged excessive use of force on peaceful protesters during the #EndSARS protests.
Decrying the situation in Nigeria, the lawmaker said: “We need to call out the corruption, we need to use the powers that we have in this country to stop those profiting from the wealth of that great nation and hiding it here.
“Some people will remember when General Gowon left Nigeria with half the Central Bank and moved to London.
“We know that today, even now, in this great city of ours, there are, sadly, some people who have taken from the Nigerian people and hidden their ill-gotten gains here.
“We know that our banks, sadly, have been used for that profit and for that illegal transfer of assets.
“And that means the UK is in enormous unique position in being able to do actually something to really exert pressure on those who have robbed the Nigerian people.”
Reacting to the development, Adesina described Gowon as “a man of great honour, honesty…humility and integrity.”
He tweeted: “Be careful of misinformation! H.E. General Yakubu Gowon, Nigeria’s former Head of State, is a man of great honour, decency, honesty, amazing simplicity, humility and integrity. I know him. A great and admirable elder statesman of Nigeria. His honesty and integrity are impeccable,” pic.twitter.com/YznYN873qH
— Akinwumi A. Adesina (@akin_adesina) November 26, 2020
Meanwhile, Gowon has denied the accusation, describing it as “rubbish”.
“I don’t know where he got that rubbish from, I served Nigeria diligently and my records are there for all to see”.
“What the MP said was just mere ridicule and I don’t know as to where he cooked up such statement. I served Nigeria as much as I could and my achievements during those years are available to everyone.
“I don’t want to talk over the matter since those who know me very well say that the MP’s statement is nothing but a mere fallacy,” he said in a BBC interview.
