A delegation of the British High Commission in Nigeria Wednesday met behind closed doors with the leadership of the Ogun state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Though details of the meeting, which lasted for an hour, were not disclosed as the Deputy High Commissioner, Lagos, Harriet Thompson, who led the delegation declined to speak to journalists, but it was learnt that it was over the worrying state of the nation.
Speaking after the meeting, Ogun state PDP governorship aspirant Hon Ladi Adebutu, who led the party delegation, said the commission was worried about the state of the nation and met with them as members of the opposition party to fashion out ways of addressing some issues.
Adebutu, a former member of the House of Representatives, said the High Commission came for an interactive session “to know how Nigeria is working and what are the roles we (opposition party) are playing in the workings of Nigeria and how can we move the country forward.”
Adebutu said, “They are desirous of helping us build a stable, progressive, and just society.”
“We have just had a visit from the British High Commission in the person of the Deputy High Commissioner. They came for an interactive session to know how Nigeria is working and what are the roles we are playing in the workings of Nigeria and how can we move the country forward.”
“It is obvious that they are the creators of the country we see today –Nigeria, the sovereign state is a creation of the Great Britain and as such as a member of the Commonwealth, we truly believe that they have concerns for our tomorrow.
“Obviously, our success will be their success and of course, God forbid, any failures will have, will ultimately be a liability to them because they cannot really have 200million refugees heading to the United Kingdom and I’m not sure they really desire that,” Adebutu said.
The former lawmaker said it was unfortunate that the judiciary had been operating under the fangs of the executive and expressed the urgent need for institutions in the country to be strengthened.
“There is a desperate need to strengthen our institutions. Our institutions must be allowed to function, devoid of threats, devoid of corruption.”
“We saw the Supreme Court Tuesday in the Great Britain where 11 judges unanimously went against the position of the government. That is institution working, we must work such that our institutions in Nigeria should work. We must work such that we prevent presidencies that will come in to question our future existence”, Adebutu said.
He added, “We must gradually work towards a system where people can genuinely, legally pursue the ambition and aspirations through a peaceful and legitimate means.”
“If you shut the doors to peaceful coexistence, peaceful expression of opinions and positions, then you are deliberately calling on people to act in ways that are different from this. We do not want anarchy, people must feel safe and secured to pursue their agenda.”
The meeting was also attended by the factional state party chairman, Hon Sikirulai Ogundele and all the senatorial chairmen of the party.