GEJ won't interfere with ongoing investigation of accusation against Ali Modu Sheriff
We have noted with surprise, the unnecessary hue and cry raised by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and other bigoted critics of the Jonathan Administration over the claim that the President is “hobnobbing” with the former governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff who was recently accused by the Australian, Stephen Davis of being one of the chief sponsors of the terrorist group, Boko Haram. Continue...
The totally erroneous basis for
that charge was the spurious claim that Senator Sheriff accompanied President Jonathan
on his recent trip to Ndjamena as a member of his entourage.
Although Senator Sheriff
himself has already given the lie to that claim through his Media Adviser, the Presidency
wishes to affirm, for the purpose of emphasis, that the former Borno State
governor was not on President Jonathan’s delegation to Chad.
In keeping with President Jonathan’s commitment to
transparency and openness in the conduct of government business, names of the
key members of his delegation were announced a day before his trip to Ndjamena.
They included the National
Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.), the Minister of Communications
Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs,
Dr. Nurudeen Mohammed and the Director-General of National Space Research and
Development Agency, Prof. Seidu Mohammed.
As can be easily verified from
the complete list of members of the Presidential entourage to Chad which was
also circulated on Sunday and never changed, Senator Sheriff’s name was not on
it. The only other persons on the list were the President’s aides, security
personnel and journalists.
The APC and others who rushed
to condemn President Jonathan for a non-existent indiscretion would have found,
if they took the least trouble to double-check, that there was absolutely no factual
basis for their accusation.
Those who associate with
Senator Sheriff know that he has longstanding interests in Chad and often
spends a lot of his time there. He happened to be in Ndjamena at the time of President
Jonathan’s visit and joined other Nigerian residents of the Chadian capital in
coming to the airport to welcome their President.
That was the full extent of his
participation in the visit and it was also at Ndjamena Airport that the
pictures which formed the basis of the bogus allegation of President Jonathan hobnobbing
with an “accused sponsor of terrorism” were taken.
The former Governor’s presence
in Chad was certainly not at President Jonathan’s instance and he did not participate
in any of the President’s discussions with President Idriss Deby or his other
engagements in Ndjamena.
President Jonathan is fully
aware of the allegation made against Senator Sheriff by Stephen Davis. That
allegation is already being investigated by the security agencies who will make
their findings known to the public in due course.
The President assures all Nigerians
that he has not willfully taken any action that could prejudice the outcome of that
ongoing inquiry.
He seizes this opportunity to
reassure the nation once again of his total commitment to doing all within his
powers to bring all identified and verified sponsors of terrorism to justice,
and ending the menace of violent extremism in the country.
Reuben
Abati
Special
Adviser to the President
Media
& Publicity
September
11, 2014
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