PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, on Thursday, said the presence of the former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff, in Chad at the time he (the president) was in the country was certainly not at his instance, calling those alleging that he invited the former governor to join his entourage as bigoted critics.
This is even as he stated that the former governor did not participate in any of the discussions he (Jonathan) had with President Idriss Deby or in any of his other engagements in Ndjamena, the country’s capital.
President Jonathan’s decision to put the records straight followed incessant criticisms that followed the presence of Sheriff at the meeting with President Deby.
Speaking through his spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati, Jonathan said he was fully aware of the allegation made against Senator Sheriff by the Australian negotiator, Stephen Davis.
The allegation, according to him, was already being investigated by the security agencies, who, he said, would make their findings known to the public in due course.
The president assured all Nigerians that he had not willfully taken any action that could prejudice the outcome of the ongoing inquiry.
“We have noted with surprise, the unnecessary hue and cry raised by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and other bigoted critics of the Jonathan-led administration over the claim that the president is ‘hobnobbing’ with Senator Sheriff.
“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, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd.); Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson; Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Nurudeen Mohammed and the Director-General of National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Professor Seidu Mohammed.
“As can be easily verified from the complete list of members of the entourage, 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 statement said.
It added that it was public knowledge that “Senator Sheriff has long-standing 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.”
Corroborating the claims by the Presidency, former Commissioner for Information, Home Affairs and Culture in Borno State, Mr Inuwa Bwala, has clarified that Sheriff was in Chad before the visit and only received the president at the airport in Ndjamena.
Bwala, speaking with the press in Maiduguri, on Thursday, noted that the allegation by the APC’s spokesperson, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, was misleading.
“It is necessary to clarify that Ali Sheriff is more or less a resident of Ndjamena, as he has been in Chad, pursuing his legitimate business since leaving office in 2011 and it was not out of place for him to receive his own president in Chad,” Bwala stated.
He added that “Sheriff has neither been indicted by any panel of enquiry nor found guilty of any offence by any court of law in Nigeria.”
Bwala also rubbished Sheriff’s indictment by the Australian negotiator, Steven Davis, noting that the government had also disowned Davis.
“The APC is merely celebrating falsehood and mischief by orchestrating the controversial interview by a self-styled Australian hostage negotiator, Steven Davis, who has since been disowned by the government he initially claimed hired him. Besides, there are emerging evidences which point to the contrary on issues raised by Mr Davis,” Bwala said.