Sheriff, Alleged Boko Haram Financier on His Own-FG

President Goodluck Jonathan has denied travelling to Chad with, Ali Modu Sheriff, former Borno State governor, for a meeting with Idris Derby, Chadian President, on terrorism issues.

A widely published picture showing President Jonathan and Sheriff in Ndjamena, Chadian capital had sparked shock and disbelief that the federal government was consorting with the same man accused of sponsoring Boko Haram insurgents currently ravaging Nigeria.

But Reuben Abati, spokesman to the President Jonathan said he (President) was fully aware of the allegation made against Senator Sheriff by Stephen Davis, the Australian negotiator.

The allegation, according to him, was already being investigated by the security agencies, who, he said, would make their findings known to the public in due course.

The president assured all Nigerians that he had not willfully taken any action that could prejudice the outcome of the ongoing inquiry.

“We have noted with surprise, the unnecessary hue and cry raised by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and other bigoted critics of the Jonathan-led administration over the claim that the president is ‘hobnobbing’ with Senator Sheriff.

“The totally erroneous basis for that charge was the spurious claim that Senator Sheriff accompanied President Jonathan on his recent trip to Ndjamena as a member of his entourage.

“Although Senator Sheriff himself has already given the lie to that claim through his media adviser, the presidency wishes to affirm, for the purpose of emphasis, that the former Borno State governor was not on President Jonathan’s delegation to Chad.

“In keeping with President Jonathan’s commitment to transparency and openness in the conduct of government business, names of the key members of his delegation were announced a day before his trip to Ndjamena.

“They included the National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd.); Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson; Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Nurudeen Mohammed and the Director-General of National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Professor Seidu Mohammed.

“As can be easily verified from the complete list of members of the entourage, which was also circulated on Sunday and never changed, Senator Sheriff’s name was not on it. The only other persons on the list were the president’s aides, security personnel and journalists,” the statement said.

It added that it was public knowledge that “Senator Sheriff has long-standing interests in Chad and often spends a lot of his time there. He happened to be in Ndjamena at the time of President Jonathan’s visit and joined other Nigerian residents of the Chadian capital in coming to the airport to welcome their president.

“That was the full extent of his participation in the visit and it was also at Ndjamena Airport that the pictures which formed the basis of the bogus allegation of President Jonathan hobnobbing with an ‘accused sponsor of terrorism’ were taken.”