Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Okoi Obono-Obla, has stated that President Goodluck Jonathan’s reply to an earlier letter sent to him by former President Olusegun Obasanjo has given the North and the party’s leader, Muhammadu Buhari, of involvement in the activities of Boko Haram.Obono-Obla, founding member of APC, who stated this on Tuesday in an online text he made available to Daily Independent in Calabar.In the text entitled: “Boko Haram Started in 2002, President Jonathan, ” Obono-Obla said: ”President Goodluck Jonathan in his reply to the Epistle of former President Olusegun Obasanjo confessed categorically and graphically that the insurgency launched against the Nigerian State by Boko Haram started in 2002 when President Olusegun Obasanjo was the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.“I hope this confession by no other person than President Jonathan would put paid to the speculation, rumour and insinuation in some quarters that the insurgency was a reaction by Northern Nigeria to the election of President Jonathan as President.“There is also a school of thought that attributes the surge in the murderous campaign of Boko Haram to some opposition leaders from Northern Nigeria who are unhappy that President Jonathan became the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the General Elections of 2011. “This school of thought falsely and maliciously accused General Buhari of threatening to make the country ungovernable and that insurgency is part and parcel of the plot to make the country ungovernable”.Obono-Obla, who is a close ally of Buhari, said the former Nigerian leader has been a victim of political blackmail and ethnic chauvinists, who would stop at nothing to beguile the ordinary Nigeria for their selfish reasons.“Indeed and factually General Buhari, a very quiet and taciturn man, never made such an inflammatory statement.“General Buhari only advised voters to ensure that they don’t leave the polling stations after casting their votes until the votes are counted and result publicly announced or declared.”“Even though a
Presidential Committee on Post Election Violence appointed by President Jonathan exonerated General Buhari of any culpability of the violence that erupted after the presidential election some apologists of the PDP keep blaming General Buhari just to blackmail him.“The Presidential Panel headed by the respected Justice Lemu blamed the violence on the intense struggle for power among factions of the political elites in the PDP”.The APC chieftain also stated that from the content of Jonathan’s letter to Obsanjo, it is obvious that those who are blaming the activities of Boko Haram on the leading opposition party in the country are not saying the truth.Obono-Obla said: “A lot of Nigerians hardly read serious materials such as Reports of Presidential Panels.“It is more convenient to read newspaper features written by sometimes obviously biased writers to form their opinion on topical issues.“Yet another group of mischief makers and rumour mongers egged on by mindless propagandists sponsored by the presidency attributes Boko Haram to be the handiwork of the APC; without minding that APC was founded just four months ago!“You will recall that in September, 2010, the late President Yar’Adua ordered the Army to clamp down on Boko Haram in their strongholds in Bauchi and Bornu States, which led to the arrest and later extra judicial execution of the leader and founder of the sect, Mohammed Yusuf.“The speculation that Boko Haram was fuelled by the election of a so-called ‘South-South President’ gained currency from 2011 when the sect launched series of daring and deadly attacks on police stations and other targets, including the United Nations Office in Abuja and the Headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force, also in Abuja.“Several places of worship were bombed in Abuja and other cities in the North Eastern Nigeria”.However, he accused the Presidency of fuelling such speculation against the north, Buhari, and the APC , saying, “The rumour and speculation that Boko Haram was targeted at President Jonathan was tacitly encouraged by the presidency to black mail opposition leaders from Northern Nigeria until President Jonathan in his Presidential Media Chat in September, 2013, said Boko Haram was not a reaction to his election”.
Bassey Inyang – Calabar
