Former President Goodluck Jonathan has rejected reports claiming that he accused the late President Muhammadu Buhari of having links with Boko Haram, insisting that his words were misinterpreted.
In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by his media adviser, Ikechukwu Eze, Jonathan stressed that at no point did he suggest or imply that Buhari supported or had any form of relationship with the extremist group.
The clarification comes after Jonathan, at the public presentation of ‘Scars,’ a book authored by former Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor, recalled that Boko Haram once mentioned Buhari as a possible negotiator during peace talks with the federal government.Jonathan, who was in office from 2010 to 2015, said the group made the suggestion after his administration had set up committees to explore dialogue with the insurgents.
But Garba Shehu, who served as Buhari’s spokesman, dismissed the claim as “false and politically motivated.”
Eze explained that Jonathan’s remarks were being taken out of context, stressing that they were meant to highlight Boko Haram’s deceitful tactics in its early days.
“The attention of the Office of Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has been drawn to misleading reports circulating in sections of the media suggesting that Dr Jonathan alleged that Boko Haram nominated the late President Muhammadu Buhari, to represent them in dialogue with the Federal Government, and therefore this made him somehow complicit in the Boko Haram crisis,” the statement reads.
“We wish to make it abundantly clear that the former President’s comments were grossly misrepresented. At no time did Dr Jonathan suggest, imply, or insinuate that President Buhari had any connection with Boko Haram or that he supported the group in any form.
“Dr Jonathan’s remarks, made in the course of a broader discussion on Nigeria’s security challenges, were meant to illustrate the deviousness and manipulative strategies employed by Boko Haram in their early years.
“His reference was to a well-documented episode when various individuals and factions falsely claimed to represent the terrorist group and purported to name prominent Nigerians as possible mediators, without those individuals’ knowledge or consent.
“The point Dr Jonathan sought to make was that Boko Haram, in its characteristic deceit, often invoked the names of respected public figures to sow confusion, exploit political divisions, and undermine public confidence in government.
“His comments were therefore an illustration of the group’s duplicity, not an accusation against the late former president or any individual, for that matter.
“The former president’s position was that if indeed Buhari was their choice negotiator, why didn’t Boko Haram expeditiously bring their evil terrorist agenda to an end when the retired General became president?
“For the avoidance of doubt, Dr Jonathan recognises that President Muhammadu Buhari, like every patriotic Nigerian, stood firmly against terrorism and was himself a target of Boko Haram violence. Both men, during their respective tenures, shared a common commitment to restoring peace and stability to Nigeria.”
Eze urged Nigerians to ignore the misinterpretations, noting that Jonathan remains dedicated to national unity, peace and democratic growth.