Jonathan under fire for visiting Chad with Sheriff

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday came under fire over the presence of a former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu-Sheriff, at a meeting he held with Chadian President Idris Deby in Ndjamena on Monday.

The President’s spokesman, Dr. Rueben Abati, had in a statement on Sunday said that Jonathan was travelling to Chad to discuss how to combat insurgency in Nigeria with Deby.

A picture on Abati’s twitter handle early on Tuesday   showed that Modu-Sheriff was present at the Ndjamena meeting.

Among those that berated the President were the opposition All Progressives Congress, lawyers and civil society groups.

Their anger was predicated on the fact that the former governor was recently accused by an Australian hostage negotiator, Steven Davis, of allegedly sponsoring Boko Haram.

Shortly after the allegation, there were calls by the All Progressives Congress and some civil society groups for the arrest and prosecution of Sheriff.

Last Thursday, the Department of State Security invited the former governor to defend the allegations.

But when the   picture of the Ndjamena meeting surfaced, the APC   slammed Jonathan for hobnobbing with the ex- governor.

The APC , in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,   demanded an explanation from the Presidency.

It accused the President of exhibiting a shocking act of indiscretion by hobnobbing with Sheriff who is not known to have been investigated and cleared of the allegation against him.

The party wondered what message Jonathan   was sending to his compatriots and indeed the international community by taking Sheriff   to Chad for a meeting against terrorism.

The statement partly read, “This action by President Jonathan confirms what the APC has always believed: That he either knows more than he is willing to admit on the issue of those who are behind the Boko Haram insurgency or he is willing to sacrifice the battle against terrorism on the altar of political expediency.

“Either way, this action by the President is the height of indiscretion at best, or a palpable exhibition of callowness at worst.

“It also confirms our fears that Sheriff was planted as a mole in the APC by his friends in high places, who are jittery about the birth of the party and would do anything to destabilise it.”

The APC said the President could not pretend not to be aware of a report sent home by Nigeria’s Defence Adviser in Ndjamena in 2011, detailing the suspicious activities of   Sheriff   and asking the Federal Government to investigate him.

The party said if this was a joke, it is one   too far, especially at a time that Nigeria had been losing some of its territories   to Boko Haram.

The APC said it was apparent that Jonathan smuggled Sheriff into his entourage, as the official statement announcing the trip, never mentioned he would accompany the President .

Mohammed said nobody in Nigeria would have known of this unholy alliance carried too far if not that the picture of the President, his host and the former governor surfaced via Twitter.

It said the President should   explain what he knows about the allegations that Sheriff and a former Chief of Army Staff, Azubuike Ihejirika, were Boko Haram sponsors.

The APC wondered why the Jonathan administration had not handed both men to the International Criminal Court for investigation and possible prosecution.

Also, lawyers like Femi Falana, Fred Agbaje, Jiti Ogunye, Festus Keyamo and Monday Ubani said the presence of the former governor at the Ndjamena meeting was inexplicable.

A former Borno State Commissioner for Information , Mr. Inuwa Bwala, however, dismissed the allegations against Sheriff.

Bwala   described the APC statement as a celebrating of falsehood.

He told one of our correspondents in a telephone interview that the party had yet to get over Sheriff’s loss to the ruling PDP.

Read more: http://www.punchng.com/news/jonathan-under-attack-for-visiting-chad-with-sheriff/