Former President Goodluck Jonathan has dismissed experiences suggesting he accused the late President Muhammadu Buhari of getting ties with Boko Haram, insisting his feedback have been wrongly portrayed.
In an announcement launched on Saturday by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, Jonathan clarified that he by no means alleged, hinted or implied that Buhari supported or was linked to the terrorist group.
The clarification follows reactions to Jonathan’s remarks on Friday on the launch of Scars, a e-book authored by former Chief of Defence Workers, Fortunate Irabor, the place he recalled that Boko Haram as soon as named Buhari amongst people they wished to characterize them in peace talks with the federal government.
Jonathan, who led Nigeria from 2010 to 2015, defined that the insurgents’ point out of Buhari got here after his administration had arrange committees to provoke dialogue with the group.
Nonetheless, Garba Shehu, a former presidential spokesman, dismissed the account as “false and politically motivated.”
Eze defined that Jonathan’s remarks have been geared toward highlighting Boko Haram’s misleading ways fairly than implicating Buhari.
“The eye of the Workplace of Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has been drawn to deceptive experiences circulating in sections of the media suggesting that Dr Jonathan alleged that Boko Haram nominated the late President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, to characterize them in dialogue with the Federal Authorities, and due to this fact this made him in some way complicit within the Boko Haram disaster,” the assertion reads.
“We want to make it abundantly clear that the previous President’s feedback have been grossly misrepresented. At no time did Dr Jonathan counsel, suggest, or insinuate that President Buhari had any reference to Boko Haram or that he supported the group in any kind.
“Dr Jonathan’s remarks, made in the middle of a broader dialogue on Nigeria’s safety challenges, have been meant for instance the deviousness and manipulative methods employed by Boko Haram of their early years.
“His reference was to a well-documented episode when numerous people and factions falsely claimed to characterize the terrorist group and purported to call distinguished Nigerians as doable mediators, with out these people’ data or consent.
“The purpose Dr Jonathan sought to make was that Boko Haram, in its attribute deceit, usually invoked the names of revered public figures to sow confusion, exploit political divisions, and undermine public confidence in authorities.
“His feedback have been due to this fact an illustration of the group’s duplicity, not an accusation in opposition to the late former president or any particular person, for that matter.
“The previous president’s place was that if certainly Buhari was their selection negotiator, why didn’t Boko Haram expeditiously carry their evil terrorist agenda to an finish when the retired Basic grew to become president?
“For the avoidance of doubt, Dr Jonathan recognises that President Muhammadu Buhari, like each patriotic Nigerian, stood firmly in opposition to terrorism and was himself a goal of Boko Haram violence. Each males, throughout their respective tenures, shared a typical dedication to restoring peace and stability to Nigeria.”
Eze urged Nigerians to disregard the distorted experiences, stressing that Jonathan stays dedicated to peace, unity, and the consolidation of democracy within the nation.
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