No talks with Boko Haram, says Jonathan

CONTRARY to media reports, no dialogue is going on between the Federal Government and  Boko Haram, according to President Goodluck Jonathan.

The President disclosed this on Sunday during  his fourth Presidential media chat since he was sworn in for a full term in May 2011.

Jonathan told a panel of senior  editors that “government is not in dialogue with any of group of people, not the least Boko Haram. They (Boko Haram) are still operating under cover. They wear  a mask. They don’t have a  face. You don’t dialogue with people you don’t know. We don’t have anybody to dialogue with. There is no dialogue going on anywhere contrary to reports that has been carried in the media.”

Jonathan also defended his government’s war against terror, saying that wholesome invasion of communities harbouring violent groups have never really solved the fundamental problems as they usually escape from such areas after committing their terror acts, citing the invasion of Odi, Bayelsa State by the Military during the Niger Delta crisis.

He explained that “12 police officers were murdered in Odi which made the Federal Government to invade Odi. But none of the militants were caught. Bombing Odi never solved the problem but it escalated the problem. We had more challenges because it attracted international sympathy to the people because the people that died in the invasion were old women and children. None of the militants were killed. It was a wrong move by the Federal Government.”

Jonathan also stated that  contrary to last week’s orchestrated media report on the management concession contract for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the “Manitoba contract has not been revoked.” He explained that what happened was that “they (Manitoba) did not follow the law strictly,” assuring that the controversy surrounding the Manitoba contract would be resolved by Tuesday before his departure to Pakistan for the D8 meeting of medium developing countries.

On corruption, Jonathan stated: “I can assure Nigerians and the global community that this government is fighting corruption frontally.” The President noted that free and fair election is a prerequisite for a  fight against corruption,  adding that his government was focused on getting that done, citing the governorship elections in Anambra, Ondo and Edo elections .

According to the President, “we have dealt with political corruption, the corruption in fertilizer procurement and corruption in the oil industry. There has never been a time corruption in the oil industry has been attacked in all fronts. The effort this government has put in in fighting corruption, I don’t think any other person has done that. We have done very well in various fronts.”

On the seeming slow pace of his government in apprehending and prosecuting corrupt Nigerians, Jonathan said that “it is better to be slow and do the right thing than hurry and do the wrong thing.”

Asked if he is worried that his party has lost recent elections in Nigeria the President said that on the contrary, “PDP (the president’s party) is doing very well. PDP is doing wonderfully well. It is dangerous for this country if PDP should win all the states.” Jonathan added that in all the states where his party has lost, the contestants from other parties were all from the “PDP family.”

On contesting the 2015 presidential election, the President asked for more time for himself and cabinet to work before he is faced with the question of whether he will run for elections in 2015 or not.  On whether last Thursday’s comment meant his government is ready to remove subsidy on petroleum products, Jonathan allayed any of such fears, saying he has made provisions for subsidy on petrol in  the 2013 budget.

On the constant fuel queues in the country, Jonathan said that by the time “the issue of sanitizing the oil sector” is concluded, queues in fuel stations will be over. He regretted that “as we are talking today, there is no fuel queue in Benin Republic. And all the fuel is from Nigeria. Yet there are fuel queues in Lagos,” blaming the Nigerian factor for the current scarcity of fuel in Nigeria.

The President supported the National Assembly review of the constitution, advising proponents of the Sovereign National Conference to partner the National Assembly on constitution review.    Jonathan said that for him, “it is too early to make comments. It will not be proper for me now to begin to impose my ideas.”

On the need for a referendum on the amended constitution, Jonathan said what the two chambers of the National Assembly “are doing satisfies the issue of referendum. They are going from state to state, constituency to constituency and zones to zones is in line with the requirements of referendum.”

Asked about the risk of his taking sides in the border dispute between Bayelsa, his home state, and neighbouring River State over the Soku oil fields, he  said  he had directed all relevant agencies to resolve the dispute. He  added that “Mr President will not influence anything to favour Bayelsa State or any other state.”

Asked who owns the disputed oil well in Anambra State, Jonathan said, “For now, Mr. President does not know who owns the (disputed) oil well.”

Jonathan publicly spoke for the first time on his wife’s health status, admitting that Dame Patience Jonathan was ill.

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