The House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila on Tuesday said he would embark on a ‘legislative diplomacy’ visit to Ghana over maltreatment of Nigerians in the country.
Nigerians in the West African country have accused Ghanaian authorities of locking up their shops and subjecting them to other forms of hostilities.
In a video that circulated on social media on Monday, some of them cried out to President Muhammadu Buhari to come to their aide, saying that they were dying and that their shops had been locked despite the fact they pay over $1m levy and taxes to Ghanaian authorities.
However, speaking with State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, Gbajabiamila said:
“I am leaving for Ghana tomorrow to meet with the speaker of the parliament in Ghana to look at the issues on ground as it affects our citizens, to try and calm things down to see if there is a way forward.
“I informed the President; he is aware of every single step that we are taking. We hope that we will come to an amicable settlement one way or the other.”
On what will be his demands during the visit, he said he was not going there to make any demands on behalf of the Nigerian government, adding that his mission was to “discuss and see how the two countries can resolve whatever the issues are. It is not about making demands, it is diplomacy.”
The Nigerian government recently vowed that it would no longer tolerate maltreatment of Nigerians in Ghana, a fellow West African country.
In its reply, Ghana’s Information Minister, Endkojo Oppong Nkrumah, denied the country was maltreating Nigerian citizens resident in Ghana and other claims made by the Nigerian government.
