TheCable

The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday accused President Goodluck Jonathan of encouraging alleged sponsors of the Boko Haram sect.

Reacting to the inclusion of Ali Modu Sheriff, the former governor of Borno state, in the list of those who  accompanied the president to an anti-terrorism meeting in Chad, APC wondered why security agencies were yet to investigate the former governor and others fingered as giving support to the sect.

Stephen Davis, an Australian cleric who spent several months in the camp of Boko Haram while trying to negotiate the release of the abducted Chibok girls, had stated that some Boko Haram commanders confessed to him that Sheriff is among their benefactors.

The former governor denied the allegation, threatening to file a legal action against Davis.

“If this is a joke, it is one joke taken too far, especially at a time that Nigeria has been losing territories after territories to Boko Haram; at a time that the same Modu Sheriff has been fingered by another source other than the Nigerian Defence Adviser in Chad, and at a time that calls are being made for an independent investigation into the allegation that Modu Sheriff and former army chief Azubuike Ihejirika are Boko Haram sponsors,” read a statement signed by the party’s national publicity secretary, Lai Mohammed.

“Nobody in Nigeria would have known of this unholy alliance carried too far if not that the picture of the president, his host and Modu Sheriff surfaced via Twitter, where incredulous Nigerians were wondering what the president was doing with an alleged Boko Haram sponsor at a time the same terrorist group is waging a titanic battle against Nigeria.

“This action by President Jonathan confirms what the APC has always believed: That the president either knows more than he is willing to admit on the issue of those who are behind the Boko Haram insurgency or he is willing to sacrifice the battle against terrorism on the altar of political expediency. Either way, this action by the president is the height of indiscretion at best, or a palpable exhibition of callowness at worst.

“It also confirms our fears that Modu Sheriff was planted as a mole in the APC by his friends in high places, who are jittery about the birth of the party and would do anything to destabilise it.”

APC said the president could not pretend to be aware of a 2011 report by Nigeria’s defence adviser in Ndjamena, urging the federal government to probe Sheriff on the account of his suspicious activities concerning alleged Boko Haram sponsorship.

The party further added that Jonathan owes Nigerians an explanation for not turning in those who have questions to answer over the ongoing insurgency in the country.

“Therefore, the president owes Nigerians an explanation on why he took Modu Sheriff to Chad, what the president knows about the allegation hanging on the former governor’s neck concerning Boko Haram sponsorship and why his administration has not handed him and Ihejirika to the International Criminal Court for investigation and possible prosecution, since it is now obvious that the Administration is unwilling to probe them.”