Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Tuesday formally accepted the petition on security situation in the country presented to the House by Diaspora Tiv people from Benue State resident in the United States of America.
The petition was presented by Hon. Mark Gbillah, on behalf of the Diaspora group two weeks ago, but it was refused to be laid before the House by the Deputy Speaker, Idris Wase, who presided over the plenary session that day, leading to nationwide condemnation of his action.
Wase had argued that Nigerians in Diaspora did not have the right to send petition on security situation in Nigeria to the House since they were not resident in the country.
This drew the ire of some Diaspora Nigerians who even threatened to suspend their much needed remittances in foreign currencies back home.
However, Gbajabiamila was said to have intervened in the matter behind closed-doors and appealed to Gbillah – representing Gwer East-West Federal Constituency of Benue State – to present the petition again today.
At today’s plenary, Gbajabiamila, who thanked Gbillah for his patience, said: “I believe this is the same petition that has been causing a lot of misunderstanding. The misunderstanding came based on the issue of signature.
“Having cleared the misunderstanding, please, go ahead and lay your petition to be given proper attention.”
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