Sovereign of another country, not UK matter, says British envoy

The British High Commissioner in Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, has said that the sovereign affairs of another country are not the United Kingdom’s matter.

Montgomery made this disclosure while reacting to the petition submitted by Sunday Adeyemo popularly called ‘Sunday Igboho’ to the UK for the sovereignty of the Yoruba nation.

Igboho had claimed that he submitted the petition to the UK government on behalf of the leader of the movement agitation, Adebanji Akintoye.

Although, the content of the petition was not made known to the public, but Igboho and his supporters who were seen in a viral video at the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer’s office on Downing Street were believed to have sought his support for the establishment of Yoruba nation.

However, in a statement on Tuesday, Montgomery said he was pleased to have met with the minister to discuss the matter.

The high commissioner said he reassured the minister that the document was not endorsed by any official body of the UK government or the UK Parliamentary Petitions Committee.

”The delivery merely reflected an established practice of allowing the delivery of letters and petitions to No10. The High Commissioner noted that any petition concerning the sovereign affairs of another country is not a matter for the UK government.

“The High Commissioner underscored that this is a matter for the government and legislature of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and noted that similar petitions had been rejected by the UK Parliamentary Petitions Committee and the UK government in the past.

”The High Commissioner agreed to continue liaising with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as needed,” the statement reads.

He further reiterated the importance of bilateral relations, investment, security and defence, and home affairs between his country and Nigeria.

Recall that the Federal Government had earlier said that the petition submitted by Igboho for the creation of the Yoruba nation was not endorsed by the UK government.

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Eche Abu-Obe, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, said media reports on the petition ‘were highly misleading’.