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Former President Goodluck Jonathan has refuted media reports claiming he accused the late President Muhammadu Buhari of having links with Boko Haram, describing the allegations as a deliberate distortion of his comments at a recent public event.
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 Chief of Defence Staff, 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.
Eze said Jonathan’s comments were grossly misrepresented, stressing that at no time did he suggest, imply, or insinuate that Buhari had any connection with Boko Haram or supported the group in any form.
Jonathan explained that his remarks referred to a documented incident in which Boko Haram falsely named prominent Nigerians as potential mediators without their consent, a ploy 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?” the statement added.
Jonathan emphasized that both he and Buhari were victims of Boko Haram attacks and shared a firm commitment to defeating terrorism during their respective tenures.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Dr Jonathan recognizes 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.
The former president maintained that his comments 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 devious and manipulative strategies employed by Boko Haram in their early years,” he clarified.
Jonathan concluded by warning against politically motivated distortions of history, which he said only serve to divide Nigerians and weaken the collective fight against insecurity.
