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.
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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 circulatedon Sundayand
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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