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By Lizzy Chirkpi
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has dismissed reports suggesting he accused the late President Muhammadu Buhari of having ties with Boko Haram.
In a statement on Saturday, Jonathan’s media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, described the reports as “false and misleading,” insisting that the former president’s remarks at the launch of a book by retired Defence Chief, General Lucky Irabor, were deliberately twisted.
“The attention of the Office of Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has been drawn to misleading reports… suggesting that Dr Jonathan alleged that Boko Haram nominated the late President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, to represent them in dialogue with the Federal Government, and therefore this made him somehow complicit in the Boko Haram crisis,” the statement read.
“We wish to make it abundantly clear that the former President’s comments were grossly misrepresented. At no time did Dr Jonathan suggest, imply, or insinuate that President Buhari had any connection with Boko Haram or that he supported the group in any form.”
Jonathan clarified that his comments referred to a documented episode where Boko Haram falsely named prominent Nigerians as potential mediators without their consent, an act he described as part of the group’s strategy to “sow confusion and undermine public confidence in government.”
He further argued that it was illogical to link Buhari to Boko Haram, noting that if the sect truly chose him as a mediator, their insurgency should have ended when Buhari became president in 2015.
“The former president’s position was that if indeed Buhari was their choice negotiator, why didn’t Boko Haram expeditiously bring their evil terrorist agenda to an end when the retired General became president?”
Jonathan stressed that both he and Buhari were targets of Boko Haram attacks and had taken firm stands against terrorism during their administrations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Dr Jonathan recognises that President Muhammadu Buhari, like every patriotic Nigerian, stood firmly against terrorism and was himself a target of Boko Haram violence. Both men, during their respective tenures, shared a common commitment to restoring peace and stability to Nigeria.”
He said his remarks were meant to highlight Boko Haram’s deceitful tactics, not to indict Buhari.
“Dr Jonathan’s remarks, made in the course of a broader discussion on Nigeria’s security challenges, were meant to illustrate the deviousness and manipulative strategies employed by Boko Haram in their early years,” the statement added.
Jonathan concluded by warning against politically motivated distortions of history, which he said only serve to divide Nigerians and weaken the fight against insecurity.